


Life of a trainer

by WiseDragonGirl



Series: Pokémon adventures in the Bansing family [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Amazing catches, Epic Battles, Epic Fail, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Jouto-chihou | Johto, Kanto-chihou | Kanto, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Original Pokemon Trainer - Freeform, Original Region, Pokémon on human violence, Travel, hardship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-03
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-02-07 08:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 37,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1891593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiseDragonGirl/pseuds/WiseDragonGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We start with the fourteen year old Andy Bansing, who starts his life as a Pokémon trainer when he gets his first Pokémon. After that we'll follow his adventures in a collection of short stories as he travels the known regions of the Pokémon world. Some of the adventures include relentless trainers, harsh weather, an encounter with Team Rocket, a raging Primeape, meeting a legendary Pokémon, and probably one of the most epic fails in catching a Pokémon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The first Pokémon

**Author's Note:**

> Even though the journey will take place in the known Pokémon regions, the journey will start in the made-up Island Rhando, a large island which is part of an island group called the Rorie-islands. This island group is my own Pokémon Region, with its very own Pokémon Professor: professor Maple.

 The sun send her warms rays of light to the earth below her, caressing the leaves of the tree, the grass, the rocks. she shone done on a picnic blanket where two boys, aged thirteen and fourteen were sitting and enjoying this fine summer day.

 "Ah what a great day!" the fourteen-year-old Andy exclaimed, turning his face to the sun for a moment, before he looked at his friend and winked. "You're free to say 'Wow Andy, this was a great idea of you! Fantastic! You rock!' at any time now.”

Henri rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he grinned and turned to Andy. "Wow Andy, this was a great idea of you! Fantastic! You rock!" he repeated the words Andy had given him. The two boys looked at each other for a moment and then laughed together. After he shook his head once more, Henri took a large, yellow berry from the bag lying on the blanket and fed it to his pink Nidoran, while Andy watched. The Nidoran seemed to enjoy the food and happily munched it away.

"I heard you got third place in the Pokémon trainer competition in Mesperit City," Andy said as he looked at Henri.

Henri nodded and fondly scratched Nidoran’s head, who gave a short, pleased cry before he turned his attention back at the remains of the berry. "Yes,” Henri said. “This little Nidoran did great."

 "I'd like to be a trainer." Andy folded his hands under his head and was lying on the grass, watching some clouds drift by. "But I'll need a Pokémon first. And those that professor Maple offered for beginning trainers just don't appeal to me."

 "Then you'll have to find a wild one."

 "Hm. Oh! I know! I'll catch myself an Articuno. That shouldn't be to hard, right?"

 Henry was rolling in the grass from laughter and Andy himself was laughing as well. Henry's Nidoran looked from the one to the other, but then turned his attention to the bag where the first berry had come from and checked to see if there were some more.

"If you catch a legendary Pokémon just like that..." Henry began, but he was interrupted by Andy

 "No, not just like that. With a plain Poké Ball!” Andy made a throwing motion. “In one throw."

 Still laughing, Henry continued: "Right, if you catch a legendary Pokémon just like that, you can skip being a trainer and call yourself Pokémon master from the start."

 "Pokémon master Andy...I like that." Andy knew very well that what he said would be impossible, but he liked to exaggerate and joking like this was one of his favourite past-times, although it sometimes annoy people that he was so rarely serious. That made it all the more fun really. But Henri seemed to be able to handle it quite well and it was probably why their friendship had survived so far.

 "You know," Henry said suddenly. "If Articuno fails, you can always go for Entei."

 Andy burst out in laughter, as did Henry.

 Henry often went along in his jokes and that was what Andy liked so much about him. But not only could they joke together, Andy knew Henry was a friend he could turn to when he needed help, as he would be there for Henry.

 Remembering he had sandwich with honey lying there, Andy got back up and reached for it, but his hand stopped half-way through.

 A Caterpie was munching on his sandwich.

 "What is this?"

 "That's a Caterpie," Henry told him.

 "You know, it may be shocking, but I know some Pokémon by name. I meant: what is that Caterpie doing here?"

 "Eating," Henry replied, very helpful.

 "You're no help at all." Andy leaned over to watch the Caterpie, who had stopped eating and looked at him with it’s big, black eyes. "You like that sandwich, little one?"

 The Caterpie still looked at him and nodded.

 "You can have it." Andy shoved the sandwich a bit in his direction. "There's plenty more for me."

 Taking another sandwich from the basket, without really checking what he had grabbed, Andy looked at Henry. "It's not an Articuno, but I like it. You think I should catch it?"

 "Do you have a Poké Ball?"

 Andy shook his head, while swallowing a mouthful of his chicken-curry-salad sandwich. Henry reached into his backpack and threw a Poké Ball to Andy, who plucked it from the air with one hand.

 "You can try to catch it," Henry said to his friend, scratching the head of his Nidoran, who enjoyed the treatment, "and I’ll even lend you my Nidoran for it, but you can also see if he wants to come with you. There have been Pokémon willing to go with humans before and this one doesn't seem to be afraid."

 Andy nodded, looking at the Caterpie while rolling the Poké Ball from one hand to the next. Then he pushed the button to enlarge it. The Caterpie, who was done eating, watched him curiously.

 "I'm Andy," he said to the small bug-Pokémon. "And I want to be a Pokémon trainer. But for that I need a Pokémon, like yourself. Why don't you come with me? We can explore the world together, go on adventures, save the world and retire when we're thirty!"

 Henry sighed and Andy grinned.

 "Or, you know, participate in battles, get stronger and generally just have a good time together."

 The Pokémon looked at him with his head slightly tilted to the right.

 "If you're wondering what I can offer you,” Andy continued, “except of course for my awesome personality and stunning good looks, I can help you get stronger and I can offer shelter, food and friends."

 "Prieee?"

 "Not quite convinced? Hm, let me see." Andy watched the Pokémon as he was watching him and he reached out to it, to pet it on the head. "I'll take care of you, little one. You won't have to do anything you don't want to." A grin appeared, as Andy never stayed serious for a long time. "Or I can bribe you with honey!"

 Henry laughed when he heard the last remark, but stopped when he noticed the Caterpie crawl closer to Andy.

 "Don't say the honey bit did the job," Andy said, as surprised as Henry was.

 "No, I'd say he just likes you. Pokémon aren't stupid. Well, of course he likes honey, but I think you earned his trust with everything you said to him."

 Andy offered the Caterpie his hand and the Caterpie crawled on it and moved over the arm, straight to the shoulder.

 "If you want to come with me, you'll need a name." There was a serious look on Andy’s face, as he nodded to his own words. "I've got it! I'm going to name you Benny. What do you think?"

 The Caterpie nodded and a broad smile appeared on Andy's face. "Benny it is then. Welcome to my team...which right now consists of just you."

 Henry chuckled as he handed Andy a berry to feed his new found Pokémon.


	2. Encounter in Lilan Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy is walking through Lilan Town, looking for someone to battle. A boy doesn't believe in Benny's strength and Andy admits his one goal in life.

 With Benny sitting on his shoulder and his hands tucked in the pockets of his trousers, Andy was walking through Lilan Town, one of the two large cities on Rhando Island. They have had their first practices on still targets and practiced both the string shot and the tackle, but the small Caterpie seemed eager to test his strength against a real opponent.

 A few feet away Andy noticed what seemed to be a Pokémon battle that just had started and he stopped to watch. A Quilava and a Fearow were standing on the opposite sites, their determined trainers right behind them.

 "Let's not challenge those trainers,” Andy said to his Caterpie. “Those Pokémon wouldn't stand a chance against you.” He grinned and winked to his Caterpie. “Gotta give them a fair chance to win."

 The Caterpie on Andy’s shoulder seemed amused by the remark and nodded to show his approval of the decision.

 A boy, a few years younger then Andy, gave him a sceptical look. "Are you serious?" he asked. "That Caterpie doesn't stand a chance against either of them."

 "I'm shocked that you say that!" Andy took Benny from his shoulder and held it under the boy’s nose in a swift movement. "Just look at how muscular he is!"

 The boy did look at Benny, who was sitting innocently and comfortably in Andy’s extended hands. "You really think that Caterpie would stand a chance against a Fearow or a Quilava?" the boy asked, disbelief dripping from his voice.

 "Of course!” Andy exclaimed. “About the same chance I have to catch an Articuno with a single Pokéball!"

 The boy looked at him very sceptically and Andy burst out in laughter as Benny crawled back to his shoulder. Of course Benny didn't stand a chance, he was both of a lower level and in a type disadvantage, but there was nothing wrong with some misplaced boasting. Andy shook his head as he walked away. Some people really didn't know sarcasm. They wouldn't recognize it if it would hit them in the face. And some were just to serious. But that didn't matter, it was all the more fun for him.

 "Let's find an opponent of your level," Andy said to Benny. "Or I'll give Henry a call, he wouldn't mind training with us."

"Prie?"

 "Even though his Nidoran is stronger then you, he wouldn't battle to win, so it would be a good practice. But first I want to see how we do against a real opponent."

 Benny nodded in agreement and Andy nodded as well, also in agreement of his own remark. The walked on, well, Andy walked, Benny was sitting comfortably on his shoulder.

 "So, look who we have here," a voice behind them said. "Young Andy with a Pokémon."

 "I found him in the forest," Andy said, turning around. "And he wanted the come along."

 The man behind him smiled, giving his face a friendly appearance. A Houndoom was standing next to him, with his head held high, quietly observing what was going on.

 "Thomas, how have you been, old man?"

 Thomas shook Andy's hand, smiling friendly. "You've sure grown a lot since I last saw you, it won't be long and you'll be taller then me."

 "My goal in life," Andy said, grinning.

 "Are you keeping him out?" Thomas asked, pointing to the Caterpie on his shoulder.

 Andy shrugged, which resulted in Benny almost falling of his shoulder, but Benny managed to stay on. "It depends, I keep him in his Pokéball as well, but we're looking for an opponent today. Of course he has his say in the matter, it's going to be our first battle."

 Thomas nodded as he looked at the Caterpie.  "If you want, you can visit me this weekend, he offered. “I can teach you a thing or two about Pokémon."

 "Great! We'll come bug you next weekend then. Right now we have to epically win a battle, see you!" Andy turned around and waved to Thomas while walking away, keeping his other hand in the pocket of his trousers.


	3. The first battle

As Andy continued his walk with his Caterpie on his shoulder, he noticed another Pokémon battle and he stopped to watch. One of the trainers had a Rattata, the other had a Weedle and so far it seemed like the Rattata was winning. Andy watched silently as the Rattata did a quick-attack and with that knock out the opponent.

“I told you bugs suck,” the Rattata’s trainer taunted as the other trainer called his Weedle back and ran off. The taunting trainer smirked and complemented his Rattata on a battle well fought.

“I think we’ve found our opponent,” Andy said in a light-hearted and cheerful tone, but the dark look on his face didn’t match that. The Caterpie on his shoulder nodded and Andy walked up to him.

“I bet you can’t defeat my Caterpie,” Andy stated.

“Didn’t you hear me?” the trainer said. Andy guessed the trainer was two or three years younger them he was. “I said bugs suck. Are you another loser that needs to learn that he hard way?”

“Oh, I heard you fine the first time.” Andy shrugged lightly with his hands in the pockets of his trousers. “I just disagree. Rats like you suck.” He turned to the Rattata. “No offense meant.”

“Hey! I never said you could speak to my Pokémon!”

“Whatever,” Andy sighed. “Are you up for a battle? I’ll prove to you that bugs aren’t as weak as you seem to think.” He grabbed Benny from his shoulder so he could show him to his opponent. “See? Don’t you see the fierce look in his eyes? The confident attitude he has?”

Benny, sitting comfortably in Andy’s hands, tilted his head a bit to look at their opponent with his big, black eyes, making him look more cute then fierce and the boy didn’t know if he should laugh or get angry.

“If you’re not afraid, we can have a battle, you and I,” Andy continued. “What do you think?”

“Alright! I’ll show you that bugs are useless, just like that other trainer with his stupid little Weedle.” 

“Don’t say that! You’ll hurt his feelings.”

“So what? Feelings don’t matter in battles.”

Andy frowned a bit, looking at his opponent. The boy was maybe eleven years old, somewhere around that, and already thought he knew everything. Of course Andy was just a beginning trainer, but he already felt he was a far better trainer then this boy was. Sure, he was just fourteen himself, but it seemed to make a world of difference. “You may start,” Andy said, smiling broadly as Benny crawled forward to face his opponent. “And Benny, let’s show them just how awesome you really are! Give him that fierce look of yours!”

Benny blinked and showed the Rattata his big, black eyes and Andy grinned as he noticed the boy grab his head in that oh to familiar tired expression people got when they were sighing.

“Use your tackle, Rattata!” The boy ordered his Pokémon and the Rattata took of and charged towards Benny.

“String shot!” Andy ordered and the white substance left the Caterpie’s mouth, hitting the Rattata in the face, who slowed down, shaking his head with closed eyes.

“Nicely done,” Andy said. “Now, tackle!”

With a well placed tackle, Benny knocked the Rattata on his side, but the Rattata got up again and with his paw he cleared his face of the sticky substance.

“Quick attack!” the boy ordered and the Rattata run fast to Benny, knocking him down.

Benny rolled over the ground, but he got up again, focussing on his opponent.

“That’s the spirit Benny! Show him what you’re made of!” The Caterpie got on his tail and nodded. “Alright, use your tackle!” Andy commanded and Benny started his attack.

Their opponent ordered a tail whip and as Benny hit the Rattata, the Rattata hit Benny lightly with his tail. Benny shook his head and watched the Rattata get on his feet again.

“String shot!” Andy said and Benny shot the sticky white substance from his mouth again, covering the Rattata, who shook his head and used his paws to try and get rid of it. “Fantastic! Now use that awesome tackle of yours again!”

Benny hit the rattata with his head in the side and the Rattata fell on the ground. With some effort he got back on his legs, still partly covered by the string shot, but his legs trembled en he fell down on the ground again.

“That looks like win!” Andy said and he looked at his Caterpie. “Well done Benny!” he exclaimed, applauding his Pokémon. “You’re the best! A star! Fantastic Benny, you rock!”

“Don’t get all that excited,” the boy grumbled as he aimed his Poké Ball to his Rattata and called him back.”

“Why shouldn’t I get excited? This bug rules!” The happy smile made quickly way for a serious frown. “Really, don’t ditch a type that easily. Winning or losing doesn’t just depend on the type, but on the skills a Pokémon and it’s trainer has.” Andy being Andy, the serious mood quickly faded. With a broad grin he picked up his Caterpie. “So, ready to take on an Articuno? Or Entei! What do you think?”

Benny shook his head and the boy blinked, as if he didn’t believe what he just heard.

“No? Alright then. How about a rest in your Poké Ball?”

Now Benny nodded and Andy dug in his pocket to find Benny’s Poké Ball.

“Let’s see…it should be here somewhere…no, that’s gum, that’s a marble…don’t even know why I have that in my pocket…ah, here it is.”

Between two fingers Andy lifted the small Poké Ball from his pocket, pushed the button to enlarge it and aimed it at his Pokémon. “You did great, take your rest now. I’ll make sure that you’ll get a fantastic dinner to celebrate this victory.”

After Andy had called his Pokémon back to the Poké Ball, he looked at the other trainer. Slowly an amused smile appeared on his face. “Is there something wrong?”

“Articuno or Entei?” the boy asked.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with dreaming big!” Andy started walking away, waving to the boy as he left. “Maybe we’ll battle again sometime. See you around.”

Since Benny was resting now, Andy decided they might as well go home. Maybe Henri would want to come over and train with them, he’d make sure to give his friend a call when he returned home.


	4. Evolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most Pokémon evolve at one point, right? Well, Benny does too

Andy had a lot of fun with his Caterpie and he was really happy to have found him in the forest, on that picnic day with Henry and his Nidoran. They were spending a lot of time together, eating, resting, training and battling. The first two of those activities being their favourite past-times.

They won several battles as Benny proved to be a strong Caterpie. Strong as in able to compete with and win from the general first stage Pokémon other trainers in the area had or that resided in the nearby forest, he was still no where near the needed level to take on, let’s say...Entei. But, then again, Entei was just the back-up plan if catching Articuno failed, right? And that was going to happen in a single throw, so Benny wouldn’t even need to be at a level to compete with legendary Pokémon...but this is getting besides the point.

They also lost a couple of battles, which was only natural since there were trainers around who had been battling for a longer time and thus had stronger Pokémon. Andy didn’t mind the losses, they were part being a trainer and he was always proud at the accomplishments of his Caterpie, whether he won or lost. But...all that changed one day.

It happened right after a battle, Benny delivered the final blow in a head-on tackle to the opposing Spinarak, knocking the Pokémon on his back, with his paws twisting in the air, and with that won the match.

Just as Andy was ready to call him back, the characteristic white glow surrounded Benny as his shape started to change. Few moments later, a Metapod was sitting in the Caterpie’s place.

Andy looked at him in surprise, but then grinned as he held his hands in his side.

“Well, well, well, you’ve become handsome, Benny.”

The Metapod looked silently at him as Andy got closer and gently lifted him from the ground. “And heavier I might add, what have you been eating?”

The happy sparkle in Benny’s eyes showed he appreciated the joke and Andy chuckled.

“Thanks for the match”, Andy said to his opponent, who didn’t look as happy as Andy did as he called his Spinarak back. “You’re free to come back for a rematch, but I think I’m going to enlist Benny in a beauty contest first.”

Benny seemed amused by the remark and Andy was grinning, as he walked away with the Metapod under his arm, back to his house. At home he showed his new Metapod to his parents, who were only mildly enthusiastic about it. They never cared much for training Pokémon themselves and they weren’t sure why their children wanted to be a part of it that much. Andy would have showed his older brother, but he was studying abroad.

Then, with the metapod under his arm he walked over to the telephone and dialled the number of his friend Henry. The grin on his face was a preview of how the conversation would go, as Andy listened patiently to the dialling tone, until Henry picked up on the other side.

“Oh hey, Henry! Guess what?”

_“You finally caught your Articuno?”_

Andy laughed, he could have known Henri would bring up that inside joke between them. Ever since that picnic they mentioned Articuno or Entei here and there, or nudge each other when someone mentioned it. It was a joke that stuck for some reason and Andy loved it.  “No, no,” Andy said, “even better! Benny evolved today!”

_“That’s great! Congratulations.”_

“Well, this does bring a problem,” Andy continued, with a sigh.

 _“What kind of problem?”_ Henry inquired.

“How am I supposed to train him? Throw him at someone while shouting ‘tackle!’?”

On the other side of the phone, Henry burst out in laughter and a grinning Andy waited patiently for him to catch his breath again. Benny seemed to chuckle as well, although the sturdy Pokémon barely moved.

_“No, no, patience is the key word here. You can use him in battle, Metapod are known to have a little flexibility in their ‘tail’, but for the most part they’re…”_

“Useless in battle?” Andy finished his sentence.

_“Not exactly the words I wanted to use, but yes. The know how to harden and truthfully, that is not the most exciting move ever.”_

“Come now,” Andy said, grinning broadly, “When a stud like Benny hardens, I’m sure the opponent will faint of admiration.”

Henry laughed again. _“You’re free to test out that theory against my Nidoran one day.”_

“That is what I wanted to hear! I’ll come over tomorrow.”

_“Alright Andy, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”_

Andy greeted his friend a final time, promised him to be there by noon and hung up. Then he took the Metapod from under his arm and held him at eyes height in front of him, observing him closely. Benny stared back at him as Andy put him on the table.

“You really surprised me when you evolved, but I’m glad you did. It makes me wonder when you’ll evolve again.”

“Metapod,” Benny replied and Andy patted him gently.

“You took the words right from my mouth. Or something, I generally don’t say ‘metapod’, unless I’m calling you…never mind, this is getting confusing.”

“Meta.”

Andy grinned again, picked Benny up and carried him to his room, where he placed him in a corner.


	5. Metapod's might

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Pokémon has to battle sometime, right? Well, Metapods do to, but how exactly does one use one in battle? It turns out, there is a way, brace yourself for an epic battle!

After a quick breakfast, Andy was standing in his parents garden and watched his Metapod. “Alright, let’s see that fabulous move of yours," he said to Benny. "Use harden.” A few seconds passed and Andy scratched his head. “Henry was right, not the most exciting move I’ve ever seen.”

“Meta,” the Metapod sighed and Andy grinned.

“It must be because I’m awesome myself that is doesn’t affect me, I’m sure opposing Pokémon will be impressed.”

Benny sighed again as Andy dropped down in the grass so he could sit right in front of Benny. He felt on the shell and nodded to himself. “It does feel sturdier. Use harden again.”

He examined the shell again and concluded that even though visibly there wasn’t much going on, the move was effective. “Come on Benny, let’s see where your limit is. Harden.”

They continued until Andy was satisfied and he picked his Pokémon up from the grass to carry him indoors.

“Do you think that if I throw you now, you’ll break someone’s skull?” Andy got the impression that if Benny could grin in this state, he probably was doing so now.

Still holding Benny under his arm, he went into the house and dropped down on the sofa to watch some television before heading over to Henry’s, but got up again when his mother started to nag about his Pokémon sitting on the sofa. “Fine, we’ll go make Henry’s sofa dirty then,” Andy sighed, wondering why his mother gave Benny such a hard time. Probably not a bug-lover, he thought, shrugging it of. He left the house and walked all the way over to his friends house, casually carrying Benny under one arm and he put the other hand in the pocket of his pants.

When he finally arrived at Henry’s place, he was greeted by Henry’s older sister Bethy and directed to the garden where Henry and his Nidoran were.

“Andy, you’re early.”

“I figured you would be impatient to see me again, so I left a bit early.” Andy said with a wink and Henry started nodding.

“That’s mighty friendly of you, to honour me this early with your presence.”

“I live to serve.”

By now both boys couldn’t keep a straight face and started laughing. Andy sat down on the grass and placed Benny next to him. Henry sat down in front of him and observed the Metapod.

“Nice,” Henri said and he nodded to himself, before looking back at Andy. “So you want to train him?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll see what I can do to help, but training Metapod takes some dedication as he’s not easy to use in battle.”

“I’ve got plenty of dedication,” Andy reassured his friend with a wink. Even though they didn’t differ in age that much, Henry had started with Pokémon first, so he came to his friend for advice. “What is your goal actually?” he then asked him, as they hadn’t really talked about that before. All Andy knew was that Henri wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer. “Do you want to be the greatest Pokémon master of all time, like so many?”

Henri showed a smile and shook his head. “Nah, that is to much effort. First I want to compete in at least one official league. But what I really want is to be a gym leader one day, that would be cool. What about you?”

“I don’t know,” Andy said truthfully, being in one of his rare serious moods. “I want to learn as much as I can about them, but I don’t really have a goal yet. I’ll see where I end up, and until I get there, I’ll learn what I can.”

“You’re not going to compete in leagues?”

Andy shrugged. “I might. I’ll definitely challenge gym leaders though, I’m sure there’s a great deal to learn from those.” He smacked his friend on the shoulder. “So you’d better get one fast, then I can challenge you and humiliate you in a battle.”

“Not with a Metapod you won’t,” Henry laughed, “so let’s work on that first.” 

As they got up, two boys were walking past the backyard, one of them had a familiar face. As the boy with the familiar face looked inside, he and Andy looked at each other for a moment. Then the boy pointed at Andy. “Hey, you’re the one that defeated my Spinarak. I want a rematch!”

“How about a double-match?” the boy next to him proposed. “The two of you against us.”

“Sure,” Henry said. “I’m up for that. How about you, Andy?”

“I don’t know,” Andy said thoughtfully, tapping his chin with a finger. “Won’t it be humiliating to be defeated twice by the same trainer?”

“You stand no chance against us!” the owner of the Spinarak shouted.

Andy and Henry looked at each other and grinned. This wouldn’t be a difficult match, Henry’s Nidoran was strong and they would greatly underestimate Benny.

“Feel free to prove that.” Henry and Andy both made a few steps back, leaving Benny on the field and the purple Nidoran calmly walked towards Benny, sitting down on the grass next to him.

“Why don’t you start?” Henry offered as the boys took their place in front of them.

The first called out his Spinarak, there was no surprise there, and the second called an Ekans to the field. And right after that they both ordered a poison sting attack.

“Focus energy,” Henry ordered calmly and looked at Andy.

Andy grinned and pointed enthusiastically at his Metapod. “Use harden, Benny!” he shouted, as if he ordered the most impressive attack ever.

Both Pokémon did was they were told as the needles of the poison sting hit them. They barely moved.

“Nidoran, fury attack!”

As Henry had finished his order, the purple Nidoran run toward Ekans, his head facing slightly down so the horn was aimed right at his opponent and he repeatedly hit it with his horn.  After an order the Spinarak used another poison sting at the Nidoran, who withdrew to his side of the field now.

“Use harden again,” Andy said with an eye on Henry, who nodded and brought his attention back to his Nidoran.

“Bite!” the owner of Ekans shouted and the snake Pokémon came towards the Nidoran and sank his fangs in his back.

“Double kick!” Henri ordered.

One well placed kick knocked the Ekans from Nidoran, the other knocked him further away. “Are you alright?” Henry asked and Nidoran nodded. When he heard the owner of the Spinarak order another poison sting, Henry ordered his Nidoran to take place in front of Metapod and ordered a poison sting as well. Both the attacks hit and even though Nidoran barely moved, the Spinarak was hit hard by the Nidorans attack.

“Let’s be original and use harden again,” Andy said to Benny, before turning to Henry. “You know, he can survive a poison sting.”

“Oh, I know. But he needs his strength, right?”

A big grin appeared on Andy’s face. “Right.”

“Double kick!” Henry ordered and Nidoran ran to his opponents, kicking Ekans first and Spinirak second.

“Ekans, glare!”

“Hide behind Benny!” Henry ordered and Nidoran jumped behind the Metapod. “And focus energy.”

“Harden,” Andy ordered for the forth time, “and take that glare like a man! I mean Metapod!”

Benny watched the Ekans glare at him, not moving an inch. It was not certain if the paralyzing effect of the glare really had taken place or not, as Benny was highly immobile anyway.

“Let’s finish this,” Henry said. “After that double kick they’re both weakened enough. One final blow should do it.”

Andy nodded. “Ready yourself, Benny. Another harden might be a good idea.”

“Nidoran, get ready to use your double kick, make sure to aim well.”

The nidoran looked at Henry and nodded, turning around so his back was to Benny.

“Double  kick!”

Henrys order was followed by a cheerful ‘tackle!’ from Andy.

The trained legs of the Nidoran hit the hardened Metapod and launched him to the other side of the field, where he hit both the Ekans and Spinarak, who were standing next to each other. Benny rolled in the grass and the Spinarak and Ekans were knocked unconscious by the hit of the hard Metapod.

Andy gave Henry a high five and congratulated him with a battle well fought, a compliment Henry immediately returned.

The disappointed boys called back their Pokémon and promised they would win in a rematch. “Of course,” Henry said. “You’re free to challenge us anytime.”

Andy walked over to Benny to pick him up. “Nicely done," he said to him. "I’d say it’s a pretty effective move.”

The glimmering in Benny’s eyes showed how happy he was with the battle.

 


	6. Vespiqueen's attack

Sitting in his backyard, Andy fed his Metapod when a blond boy showed up at the gate, his hair neatly cut and combed. Unlike his own hair, which already reached over his ears and was a bit messy, much to his mother’s disdain. He didn’t know him, if Any had to guess he say the boy was about his age, maybe a little older. 

“Hey you,” the boy said. “How about a battle?”

“I’m not you,” Andy replied absent-mindedly. “I’m Andy. And no, I’m not interested in battle. Come back some other time.”

“I’m Gregory.”

“How nice,” Andy sighed, wondering why this boy, who was apparently called Gregory, wouldn’t leave.

“Are you afraid you’ll lose?” Gregory asked.

Andy looked up again, one eyebrow rose and he slowly shook his head. “I’m not afraid to lose, I just don’t want to battle.” He looked at his Metapod. “And neither does Benny, so come back later. We’re enjoying some quiet time and you’re not contributing to that.” Andy was getting annoyed by this Gregory, there had been visitors the entire day and his younger cousins all wanted to play with Benny, who he had to safe from them at one point.

“We will battle,” Gregory insisted and Andy sent him an annoyed glare.

“I said no, it will stay no. It’s really not that hard to understand.”

Gregory smirked as he took a Pokéball from his belt.

“Go Vespiqueen!”

Andy looked at the bee-queen hovering in the air next to her trainer.

“Look, I told you…”

“Use gust!”

The Vespiqueen started beating with her wings and a gust of wind picked Benny up and dropped him on the ground a bit further, where he rolled a couple of more times before coming to a halt.

“Benny!” Andy jumped up and turned around to Gregory, looking at him angrily. “What were you thinking?! You can’t just launch an attack to any random Pokémon! We don’t want to battle!”

“You’ll better defend yourself, I’m not going to stop.”

Andy grabbed his Pokéball to call his Pokémon back, but Gregory ordered a power gem attack. The Vespiqueen held her hands together and a glowing orange ball formed between them, which she threw at Andy, knocking the Pokéball out of his hand.

“Benny, use harden!” Andy shouted as the Vespiqueen launched the same attack at the Metapod. As Benny used harden, the orange ball hit him, rolling him a bit further down the grass.

“Now, use poison sting!” Gregory ordered.

“Harden!” Andy said, while looking around for Benny’s Pokéball, as the white needles of the poison sting were hurling towards the Metapod and they hit him while he was still lying in the grass from the other attacks.

“Meta…pod,” Benny said with some effort and Andy looked concerned towards his Pokémon.

“Damn it, stop the attacks already!” Andy quickly said. “I give up, you win.” He didn’t mind to accept a loss, especially if it meant Benny would be left alone.

“But I’m not done yet,” Gregory said, grinning evilly.  “There’s no fun in stopping before the fight is really over and your Metapod is not yet defeated.” He turned to his Vespiqueen and pointed to Benny. “Vespiqueen, use poison sting!”

As the white needles were shot at Benny again, Andy placed himself in front of Benny. The poison sting hit him in the chest and with a groan of pain Andy sank on his knees, one hand on the ground for support, the other clawing in his shirt.

“Metapod! Meta!” Benny said, moving back and forth and his eyes fixed on Andy,.

“Damn you,” Andy groaned, sending an angry look at the smirking boy, while crawling back up his feet. “What are you trying to prove here anyway?”

“That I can defeat anyone,” Gregory calmly explained. “Power Gem!”

The moment Andy had been able to get on his feet again, he was knocked over by the power gem attack, landing on his back in the grass. Hitting the ground pushed the air out of his lungs and he groaned softly with closed eyes, rubbing the place where the power gem attack had hit with a hand. He turned on his side and placed a hand on the ground in order to get up again.

Benny was moving more violently. “Meta! Meta! Metaaaa!”

A white glow surrounded him as his shape started to change and Andy looked at it with his mouth open, surprised to see this happen all of the sudden.

When the light disappeared, a Butterfree flew up and flew straight to the Vespiqueen, tackling her. After that Benny took some distance again for another tackle. And another.

Andy watched as Benny was landing tackle after tackle at the Vespiqueen, pushing her back in the air.

“Poison sting!” Gregory ordered and Benny was hit by the white needles shooting from the Vespiqueen.

With his eyes closed Benny got pushed back in the air, but flapping with his wings he soon halted and he looked at his opponent. His eyes started glowing light blue and a similar light was seen around the Vespiqueen, who couldn’t move.

“Confusion?” Andy muttered as he watched the Vespiqueen suddenly crash in the ground.

Shaking her head, the Vespiqueen got up again, started beating with her wings and flew up.

“Power gem!” Gregory shouted.

Moments later the orange ball hurled towards Benny, who couldn’t evade it and it landed right in his chest. Andy ran forward to catch his Butterfree before he would fall on the ground.

“One final attack should do it,” Gregory exclaimed. “Fury Swipes!”

The Vespiqueen flew straight towards Andy and Benny, ready to use the ordered move. Andy’s held Benny in his arms and turned his back towards the Vespiqueen, in order to protect Benny.

“Flamethrower.” A calm voice suddenly said and hot flames hit the Vespiqueen, who fell down and lay on her back in the grass. Andy looked up to see where the voice had come from, just like Gregory did, and he noticed Thomas walking towards them, his Houndoom walking besides him, silently observing the situation. The eyes of Thomas were fixed on Gregory and an unusual strict expression wasoin his otherwise friendly face.

“I just got here,” Themas began, “about when Benny started to use his confusion, but those two young children over there had seen everything that had happened and were kind enough to inform me what had happened.” Thomas pointed over his shoulder to a little boy and girl, neighbours of Andy, standing on the sidewalk. Two police-officers e=were standing next to them. Strict eyes settled on Gregory. “You may have a strong Vespiqueen, well, at least stronger then Benny was, but that doesn’t give you the right to abuse your power like that. Battles may only take place if both parties agree. What you did now was bullying. No, it was abuse. That is a punishable offense.”

“Who do you think you are, meddling in our battle like that?!” Gregory asked, his chin raised in a cocky manner.

“Like I just said,” Thomas calmly explained. “That was not a Pokémon battle. That was abuse, you were beating up a Pokémon and it’s trainer when they clearly stated not wanting to battle. Officer Jenny?”

“I’ll handle it from here, Thomas.” The in blue uniform dressed woman walked forward and grabbed the Gregory by the collar, while her assistant picked up the fainted Vespiqueen. While the Vespiqueen was strong, it had been no match from the powerful flames produced by the faithful companion of Thomas. “You’re coming with me,” Officer Jenny said to Gregory, her voice filled with authority. “I’ve received multiple complaints about you and how you were attacking people’s Pokémon at random. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

 

Thomas and Andy watched officer Jenny walk away with Gregory and the Vespiqueen and then Thomas turned to Andy. “What happened?” he asked, with his usual kind and calm voice.

“Benny evolved,” Andy said, looking at the Butterfree in his arms, as if all the other events didn’t matter. The Butterfree had his eyes closed and was breathing laboriously. “I’d better go to the Pokémon Centre. Thanks for your help.” He already started to walk when he heard the voice of old Thomas.

“Mind if I join you?” the old man asked and Andy shrugged.

“That’s fine,” he said, not really caring either way as long as Benny would receive the care he needed.

Thomas nodded and with a simple gesture he invited his Houndoom to walk with them, a request that was silently accepted. “Will you tell me what happened on the way?” Thomas asked with a friendly smile on his face.

Andy laughed a bit as he looked at Thomas. “You’re not giving up, are you? Well, it’s fine with me. I’ll tell you all about the heroic acts of Benny and the fantastic Pokémon he is.”

 

On the way to the Pokémon Centre, Andy told Thomas what happened, the whole story.  How Gregory had started battling with them after he had refused, how the battle had gone, the attacks he had taken to protect Benny.

“Are you alright?” Thomas asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

“I’m fine,” Andy said, waving the words away with his hand, like they didn’t matter. “Benny is in far worse shape. But he was brave though.”

“He evolved for you. That is rare.”

Andy shrugged. “We have trained, he was probably close to evolution anyway.”

“But you in trouble was the last motivation he needed. Trust me on this one, like you stood up for him, he stood up for you, but he needed to evolve to do so.”

Andy nodded as he watched the Butterfree in his arms, his eyes were still closed and the breathing still deeply and laborious.

 

It wasn’t long before they reached the Pokémon Centre and Andy walked up to the counter.

“Oh my, what happened?” the pink-haired nurse asked when she looked at the Butterfree in Andy’s arms, so Andy told once again what happened, emphasizing on the fact that he didn’t choose to battle and that if he had the chance, he would have returned his Pokémon to his Poké Ball.

“Don’t worry,” nurse Joy reassured him, “we’ll get him back to health. Wait here please.” Nurse Joy left with Benny and Andy, who started to feel real tired all of the sudden, sat down on a chair, with Thomas taking place next to him.

Andy was glad to have the older man with him, so he wouldn’t have to wait here alone. The Houndoom sat down next to Thomas and just watched the room silently, as he always did. Thomas petted him on the head and reassured Andy it would all work out fine. But for Andy every minute felt like an hour and he was relieved when the door finally opened and a now healthy Benny came flying to him.

Andy quickly got up and caught his Pokémon, giving him a quick hug. “You should be careful flying like that, you could knock me over just like that!”

“Freee?”

“Don’t give me that, I’ve seen you tackling that Vespiqueen.”

“Free!” the happy reply from Benny came.

“Alright, let’s go home.” Andy looked at the nurse. “Nurse Joy, thanks for your help.”

“That’s alright. Take good care of him.”

“I promise.” Andy said as he turned around, but wavered and Thomas quickly grabbed his arm.

“Are you alright?” nurse Joy inquired and also Benny was looking up worried.

“I’m fine,” Andy muttered. “Don’t worry about me.”

“I’ll walk him home,” Thomas said to nurse Joy. “Thank you for your care, as always you’ve done a fantastic job.”

“Alright Thomas, take care of him.”

Thomas left the Centre with Andy, holding his arm. “Make sure you rest when you get home, you’ve endured both a poison sting and a power gem.”

“I will,” Andy promised, who was just relieved to see Benny was alright again.

 

Back at home he did as he promised, but not before he searched for the Poké Ball that had to be somewhere in the grass of the backyard. It was Benny who found it, after having flown around in the garden, and he picked it up for Andy, who held out his hand for it. Then Benny sat down on Andy’s shoulder and they went indoors, to Andy’s room, where he dropped down on the bed with a sigh of relief.  The attacks had hurt more then he wanted to admit, but he was glad Benny evolved.

“You were great today.”

“Free,” Benny sighed as he landed on a chair.

“True, we were beaten up, but when you evolved, you showed that Vespiqueen what you were made of! Remind me to give Henry a call later today or tomorrow. I’m sure he’d love to hear this.”

Benny nodded and Andy grinned. This had been some adventure and he knew this had only made them closer.

 


	7. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Andy to start his life as a travelling trainer. His first stop, after spending a bit of time on the Rorie islands themselves, is the Kanto region.

Two weeks after Benny had evolved into a Butterfree, Andy and Henry stood on the deck of a ferry, leaning on the rail and watching the trail the ferry left in the water. Drops of water splashed in their faces and the wind violently pulled on their hair. And it felt great.

The two friends were smiling at each other, enjoying the travel towards the mainland, the region of Kanto. Their Pokémon were inside their Poké Balls, and all they needed was one look to know what the other was thinking. They were thinking the same thing and they were equally excited.

The adventure would begin.

Today they would arrive at the port of Vermillion City.

 

A few days after Benny’s evolution, Henry and Andy had decided to become travelling Pokémon trainers and they had started by travelling across the island group they lived, starting with Rhando island, since they lived their. It wasn’t the first time they had walked through the forests or up to the large lake in the south. And they had been on a field trips with professor Maple from the lab in Lilan Town in the past, but it had seemed like a good start of the travel. The very first thing they had done after deciding they would start travelling was visiting Thomas Redcliff, who lived in the forest just outside their hometown of Mesperit City and who had given them advice on how to train Pokémon in the past.

It wasn’t the first time they visited the other Rorie islands either, but now they would do so without parents or any kind of adult supervision. Which was great.

After Rhando, they had visited Ornitan island, consisting mostly of grasslands with rivers and lakes. Then they had gone to Resto island, with a mostly rocky surface, a giant dormant volcano and some caves with lava lakes. Henri had caught a Poochyena here and his Nidoran had evolved in a Nidorino after battling a grumpy Slugma in one of the caves. After that they had visited Indelgy island and Evoru island, both with grasslands and forest, the most notable thing was watching a small Cyndaquil colony on Evoru. Although they had witnessed several wild Pokémon in their natural habitat and Henry had managed to catch a Poochyena, they felt they could learn much more in the other regions, as they had lived their whole lives on Rhando Island and it really wasn’t anything new hey had seen. And so they had returned to Rahdno island, where they boarded the ferry that would take them to Vermillion city.

 

And now they were on their way to the Kanto region, with a feeling of freedom and excitement prevailing everything else it seemed impossible to do anything else but smile. Henry pointed to the north and Andy’s grin broadened as he looked at what his friend was pointing at. The land was in sight, they would arrive soon.

 The ferry docked and after disembarking Andy and Henry walked together through the city to explore it a bit. There were people walking the streets: tourists, citizens, some children were playing tag and there were trainers walking around as well. One girl was rushing to the Pokémon Centre and there was some talking about the tough gym leader Lieutenant Surge. Andy looked at Henry, who shrugged and walked on. He wasn’t interested in challenging the gym leader just yet. The friends walked to a cafeteria and ordered a refreshing soda, while sitting back and just relaxing. It was their first time alone in a strange city and so far, they were enjoying it.

“Will you be alright without me?” Henry asked Andy. They had talked about it a lot and the two friends had come to the conclusion it might be best to go their separate ways.

“I wonder how I’ll ever make it through each single day and… hey! There’s a Pokémon! See ya!” Andy pretended to get up, but sat down again, laughing. “It’ll be quiet alone,” he admitted, “but I’ll manage.”

Henri nodded, he felt the same way. “Let’s make an agreement. In two years from now, at six pm, we’ll meet in Danny’s restaurant back in Mesperit City. And we’ll have accomplished at least a part of our goal.”

Andy nodded in agreement. For now they would go their separate ways, but they would meet back so they could share their adventures. “Sounds like a plan. Shall we make the reservation now?”

Henry started laughing. “Danny won’t know what happens to him, let’s do it!”

Grinning, Andy took the cellphone his father had given him on they day he had left Rhando Island and dialled the number of the restaurant. “Hey Danny, it’s Andy here…Yes, Andy Bansing, that’s me.” He winked at Henry, who was chuckling as he brought the glass to his mouth. “So yeah, I’d like to make a reservation…no problem you say? Fantastic, that’s what I wanted to hear. It’ll be for today in two years. Got that? … Yes, two years.” Andy covered the speaker of the cellphone. “You think he has a hearing problem?”

Henry quickly put his glass down as he started laughing, almost choking in the sip he had taken.

Andy grinned as he took his hand from the speaker again. “So today in two years…yes, two years.” Andy sighed and rolled his eyes. Henry was almost falling out of his chair from laughing. “At six pm. For two. Got all that? … Yes? Fantastic, see you in two years then. You’d better not get broke in that time … right, see you!” Andy ended the conversation and put his cellphone away again. “I think he had some difficulties understanding. It was like ‘In two years? Really, two years you said?’. As if that’s so hard to understand.”

“I wonder why,” Henry replied, finally able to drink again. “You’d think he’d be used to having reservations,” he continued with a dry voice.

That remark made Andy almost choke in his drink and they laughed together.

 After they paid for their drinks, the walked to a crossroad and there they were standing next to each other. Watching the people and buildings around them. Finally they looked at one another and almost simultaneous they took their Poké Balls and called their Nidorino and Butterfree out to join them. For a moment they just looked at each other silently, both realizing how strange it would be to be apart from now on.

“Well, it’s time to say goodbye,” Henry finally said.

Andy nodded and Benny landed on his shoulder, looking sadly at Henry and the Nidorino.

“How about: ‘see you later’?” Andy proposed as he held out his hand.

Henry nodded and took the hand of his friend to shake it. “See you later, Andy. Benny, you take good care of him, will you?”

“Freee,” Benny said, in a sad tone.

The two Pokémon talked to each other for a moment and when they were done, Andy nodded to his friend a final time, turned around and started walking away, waving to his friend as he did. “You’d better have won a league or two when we meet again.”

“You’d better have your Articuno by then,” Henri retorted with a smile.

A grinning Andy turned around, gave him a thumbs up, turned around again and continued to walk away, with a waving Benny on his shoulder.

Henry watched him go for a moment, then turned around as well and started walking in the opposite direction. “Come on, Nido. Let’s start our adventure.” The Nidorino quickly looked back at the distant Andy and Benny, nodded and followed Henry.

“Free,” Benny sighed and Andy looked towards him.

“Don’t worry Benny, we’ll see them again. We promised to do that and we have each other number just in case. You should be happy, today we begin our adventure. I promised you that, remember? We’d explore the world together, go on adventures, save the world and retire when we’re thirty.”

Benny sighed and Andy grinned. “Oh yes, I changed that to participate in battles, get stronger and generally just have a good time together." Benny nodded, looking more cheerful again and Andy gently stroke him. “We’ll do well, you and me. Maybe we’ll find some more friends for our team, what do you think?” Benny nodded more enthusiastically now and Andy nodded as well, eagerly looking at the road ahead. Wondering what kind of adventures would be waiting at the horizon.

 

 


	8. Gym battle in Saffron City

After he left Vermillion City, Andy just followed the road ahead, sometimes walking through a forest, sometimes walking on the road. Sometimes he took his Butterfree out, sometimes he walked alone. He did as he pleased and was happy that way. In the forest he took time to observe the world of the Pokémon, on the road he accepted a challenge if it was given to him. 

The first city his travels got him to was Saffron City, where he walked around in the city, eating a hotdog he had just purchased. He stopped before a tall building with glass doors. The gym of Saffron city. As he finished his hotdog, he examined the building, trying to decide if he would challenge the gym leader or not.

“It should be interesting,” he said to himself and full of confidence entered the gym, where he looked around in the large empty hallway. He shrugged and walked on over the blue floor, viewing the brown wall and pillars with lights. He noticed some people, but when he asked about the gym leader, they just pointed what way he had to go. Finally he arrived at a double blue door, which revealed the battle area of the gym after he pushed them open. “Hello there!" he spoke out, "I want to challenge the gym leader of this place.”

A woman with long greyish-blue hair stepped forward and examined him. “I am Sabrina, the gym leader of the Saffron City gym. You want to challenge me?”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Andy replied, cheerful as ever, not in the least intimidated by her expressionless face.

“I’ve had a vision of your arrival. You should know I have had psychic powers since I was a little child.”

“Nice. Did you wait in anticipation for my awesome person to finally arrive here?”

“Are you mocking my powers?”

Andy laughed. “No, I wouldn’t dare. Your powers don’t scare me away, on the contrary, I wonder how this battle will go. I’ve never dealt with a psychic before.”

“I dislike fighting, but if you wish, I will show you my powers,” Sabrina said to him and Andy grabbed his Poké Ball.”

“Show them to me. This battle is getting more and more interesting.”

“Very well. We’ll each use…”

“I’ve only got one Pokémon,” Andy interrupted her. “I can’t battle with more.”

Sabrina nodded as she took her Poké Ball. “Very well. Come to the field, Kadabra!”

As Sabrina’s Kadabra materialized on the field, Andy called his Butterfree to the field. “We’re up against a gym leader here, Benny," he said to his Pokémon. "Give it all you got!”

The two Pokémon stared at each other, Kadabra holding his spoon and Benny hovering in the air, just beating enough with his wings to stay in place.

“Alright Benny, use tackle!”

As Benny flew towards Kadabra as fast as he could, the Kadabra suddenly disappeared and Benny had to move his wings fast to stop him from crashing in the ground.”

“What the…” Andy looked at the Kadabra who had appeared on another side of the field and pointed to it. “Benny, try it again.”

As Benny flew towards Kadabra for a second time, he teleported away again.

“Behind you, use gust!”

Benny flapped his wings and produced a gust of wind, but Kadabra teleported out of the way again.

“Why does he move without any orders?” Andy asked Sabrina.

She looked at him with her expressionless face. “I have psychic powers, Kadabra and I are connected. He knows what I want him to do.”

“I’m glad that is solved. Benny, use stun spore!”

Benny flew higher and released the spore from his wings. The Kadabra watched it, his eyes flashing red and the spores around him were stopped, surrounded by alight blue light.

“Confusion,” Andy sighed, recognizing the light from when Benny used that move.

“Psybeam!” Sabrina suddenly said out loud and Kadabra’s eyes started to glow red, releasing multi-coloured circles, hitting the Butterfree in the chest. Flapping wildly with his wings, Benny managed to stay in the air, panting a bit.

“Benny, are you all right?”

Benny nodded.

“Let’s try and fight fire with fire, I mean psychic with psychic. Use confusion!”

Benny’s eyes started to glow light-blue and a similar colour surrounded Kadabra. With his confusion,  Benny knocked Kadabra on the ground, but as Kadabra got back on his feet, it was Benny who got surrounded by the familiar blue light.

“Fr-eee,” Benny said with some effort, trying to move. Then he got slammed in the ground, only to be lifted up and slammed in the ground again.”

“It’s over,” Sabrina simply said.

“It sure seems that way,” Andy sighed as he took his Poké Ball, aimed it at the fainted Butterfree and called it back.

“If you want, you can come back for a rematch.”

Andy sent an amused look in Sabrina’s direction. “One defeat is enough, thanks for the offer though. To win from your Kadabra… it’ll take more then what Benny can offer. It was an interesting experience nonetheless.”

“Don’t you want the Marsh badge?”

Andy shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on joining the league. Maybe I’ll return one day to show you how awesome Benny can really be, but I don’t have my mind set on defeating you. I just want to have a good time really, I can’t have that if I dwell on defeat. But I’ll consult Benny when he feels better again and let him know about your offer.” Andy winked and an eyebrow of Sabrina rose in surprise. “I’m afraid you’ll have to miss me, dear Sabrina, but maybe I’ll pop up in one of your visions again.” A confident grin appeared. “It was an interesting battle, maybe we’ll come back sometime, but I can’t promise.”

With that, Andy walked away, whistling a happy tune as if he didn’t just lose.

“Oh, hey, before I forget.” Andy turned around. “If Henry from Rhando Island comes by, tell him I said hi, ok?”

With a happy smile, Andy walked through the double door, through hallway and left the gym, leaving a surprised Sabrina and Kadabra behind.

 

After Andy left his Butterfree in the caring hands of nurse Joy, he wandered around in the city, reading a travel guide for trainers. “Let’s see… the gym of Pewter City is out of the question, as is Cinnabar Island. Oh hey, Fuchsia City, Benny will be at a disadvantage there, but Henry will like it. Maybe Celadon,  Benny should stand a chance in there, and it’s close by.” He flipped through the pages as he walked, barely noticing the city he was in. “But Lavender Town has this haunted tower. That I’ve got to see!”

When it was time to collect his Butterfree, Andy returned to the Pokémon Centre, where he collected his Poké Ball, thanked nurse Joy for her care and he continued on his way.


	9. Encounter of a Mankey

After a trip to Lavender Town, Andy was walking in the forest again, whistling a happy tune. Benny was flying around him, enjoying the walk in the forest.

When Andy heard some leaves rustle, he looked up to see where it came from and noticed a white Pokémon with brown hands and feet, hanging by it’s tail in the tree. He watched the Pokémon as it released, grabbed another branch and played around in the tree like that. Benny flew towards Andy and held on to his shoulder, also looking at the Pokémon.

“It seems like a cheerful fellow,” Andy said, taking his Pokédex. “Let’s see what this little device has to say about it.” He aimed the red device at the Pokémon and soon a voice told Andy what he needed to know.

_*Mankey, a Pig Monkey Pokémon of the Fighting-type. An agile Pokémon that lives in trees. Known for its superior footwork, it packs a powerful punch.*_

“That doesn’t sound to bad.”

 _*Although Mankey is usually calm, it does have a bad temper. It angers easily and will not hesitate to attack anything,*_ the device continued.

“Oh…that doesn’t sound to friendly. Maybe we should back away and leave it at peace.”

Benny nodded and just as Andy wanted to turn around, the Mankey looked up. For a moment, the two stared at each other. As the Mankey started shaking a bit and his nasal breath turned rough, Andy swallowed and cleared his throat.

“What did the Pokédex say about his temper again?” Andy whispered to Benny, who was hanging on his shoulder and lowered himself until just his eyes peeked over Andy’s shoulder.

“Free,” Benny said softly, clearly uncomfortable with this Pokémon as well.

“Mankey,” the Pokémon growled.

“Right! I have an idea!” Andy said, raising his finger into the air.

“Free?”

“Let’s run.”

Putting action to his words, Andy turned around and started running. The Mankey took of and chased him.

“Benny! Don’t just sit there! Use your sleeping powder!”

Benny let go of Andy’s shoulder, flapped a few times with his wings to stay in the air and turn around and faced the incoming Mankey. As he flew backwards, he released the sleeping powder from his wings. After two steps, the Mankey was blinking and slowed down. Two steps more and the Mankey fell on the ground, fast asleep.

“Well done! I don’t know what I would do without you,” Andy complimented his Butterfree and he walked back to the Mankey. “It’s an interesting Pokémon.” Again Andy took his Pokédex and started to look up the information about the species. As he was doing so, he didn’t notice, the arms of the Mankey started to move again. Suddenly he heard the Pokémon speak and he looked up, right in his eyes. “Ah crap,” was all Andy had time for to say as the Mankey jumped forwards and on Andy, who fell back and used his feet to kick it off again, but the Mankey quickly turned around and jumped on Andy again.

Benny was getting ready to use sleeping powder again, but Andy stopped him.

“No. If you do that, I’ll fall asleep as well.” He wrestled with the Mankey a bit. “Speaking of which, we need to talk about your quality of powder, Benny.”

The Butterfree sighed when hearing that remark, but kept flying circles over the wrestling pair, looking worried at the struggle between Andy and the Mankey.

They wrestled until Andy was able to pin the Mankey to the ground, keeping him there with his body and keeping his arms pressed against the ground with his hands.

“It seems I win,” Andy said, panting.

The Mankey was wriggling to get free, glaring angrily at Andy.

“Don’t give me that look, if you don’t like to lose, you just have to get stronger. And I can help.”

The Mankey stopped moving and looked up, silently.

“I think you’re strong, but you can get stronger. I can help with that. Why don’t you come with me? I can help you train, and offer food, shelter and good company, with both the stunning Benny and the to-awesome-for-words myself.” He offered the Mankey one of his disarming smiles. “What do you think?”

Benny came down as well, holding onto Andy’s shoulder and started to speak to the Mankey, who looked at the Butterfree and replied to it. When their conversation was over, he looked at Andy and nodded.

“Great, that’s what I wanted to hear.” Andy got up, releasing the Mankey again and dug in his pockets to look for a Poké Ball. When he finally found one, he took the small ball out and enlarged it with a simple tap of his finger. “This is a Poké Ball. It allows you to travel with me, without having to walk with me through wind, rain, blazing heat, snow…why can’t I have a Poké Ball?”

Benny chuckled, but the Mankey looked at him, not understanding.

“Well, maybe Benny can explain it better.”

Again, Benny talked with Mankey and Andy patiently waited for them to finish. When they were done, the Mankey looked at Andy and nodded.

“Fantastic. Well, before we do that, I would like to give you a name.” Andy fell silent as he thought about it. “Bear. I think I’ll name you Bear. What do you think?”

The Mankey nodded again, more cheerful now.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next part.” Andy gently threw the Poké Ball at the Mankey from where he was standing. The Poké Ball hit the Mankey and as it opened a red light appeared, surrounding the Mankey and pulling it in. The ball fell on the ground, shaking as the red light on the button flashed. After a few seconds, it stopped shaking and the light went away. “I think that qualifies as a successful catch,” he said as he picked the Poké Ball up. “Welcome to the team, Bear.” After looking at the Poké Ball for a bit he looked at his Butterfree. “The Pokédex mentioned something about Mankey living in packs. Do you know why this one was alone.”

Benny had a bit of a sad look and nodded.

“Left behind?” Andy guessed and he received a confirming nod from the Butterfree. “Why?”

Benny looked at Andy, trying to think of a way to tell him. Then he turned around and flapped with his wings to produce a powerful gust. He then pointed to the Poké Ball and made a second gust, a weaker one.

Andy frowned and looked at the Poké Ball. “Was he deemed too weak?” Again he got a confirming nod and Andy nodded as well. “It explains why he liked the idea of getting stronger. I’m glad we found him then.”

 


	10. The dojo

Following the path in the forest, Andy looked at the Poké Ball in his hand. He had just caught a Mankey and he was glad he had found him.

“Hey, Benny,” Andy began as he looked up, but when he failed to spot his Butterfree hestopped and looked around to see where hehad gone to. He noticed him a little further away, in a field of flowers, flying from one flower to the next. “Alright then,” he said, laughing. “We’ll take a lunch break.” He walked back to the field where he noticed a small path. Following the path with his eyes, he soon discovered a wooden building on the other side of the field. By the looks of it, a dojo. “Perfect!” he exclaimed.

Benny stopped taking nectar from one of the flowers and looked at Andy, a quizzical look on his face.

“The dojo over there, “ Andy explained. “I promised Bear I would train him, what better place is there to train a fighting type then a dojo? Let’s go there.”

First things first though, he had to get to know his Pokémon before going to a place like that. He let Bear out of the Poké Ball and offered him some canned Pokémon food he had with him, an offer the Mankey seemed to accept happily. He also offered some to Benny, but Benny seemed pleased with the flowers and returned to the field he had been flying through earlier. As Bear ate, Andy sat down with him and talked to him. He just talked to him, he told the Mankey who he was, where he was from, what his goal was, how he met Benny and things like that. After a while he pointed to the dojo and said it was a perfect place to train fighting types, especially awesome ones like Bear was. The Mankey looked at the dojo in the distance for a bit and nodded, but then turned his attention back to the food, it was the first time Bear had something like this, but he seemed to like it. When both Pokémon and Andy had enough, they packed up and started walking to the dojo, with the exception of Benny, who was flying.

After a short walk through the field, Andy arrived at the open gate and looked inside, with both the Butterfree and the Mankey behind him. On the courtyard he noticed several trainers and their fighting types, training with their Pokémon, or battling against each other. In the doorway of the wooden building behind it, an older man could be seen, watching the trainers with his hands on his back and a stern look on his face. Andy turned to the Mankey. “Here’s what we do," he said to him. "You go back in your Poké Ball and I will make sure we get to train here for a while.”

“Key?” Bear asked.

“I can’t have you go on some rampage because someone looks at you in the wrong way, then we’ll never be allowed to stay!” Andy explained, making slightly exaggerated movements with his arms.

“Mankeeey,” Bear growled lowly, glaring at Andy.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that! You attacked me when I just looked at you. Me! The most fantastic person who ever lived!”

The Mankey blinked, surprised that Andy didn’t seem the least bit intimated. 

“What do you say?” Andy then asked. “Will you go back in your Poké Ball for a bit? I’ll let you back out as soon as we get approval to stay.”

Now the Mankey nodded and Andy returned him to the Poké Ball. After that he turned back to look at the older man, who obviously was the one in charge. With Benny hanging on his shoulder, Andy walked forward, straight to the man.

“Hi,” Andy said, without any further introduction. “I would like to train here with my Mankey.”

The eyes of the man moved slowly to Andy. “You think you can just walk up to me and request to be trained?” he asked with a calm voice, but with stern expression on his face.

“I think I just did that, yes.” Andy faced the masters stern face with a confident one of his own. “As for the training, I’ll take care of that myself, but I don’t have the proper attributes to use for the training. This place seems perfect to train my Mankey.”

“If I’ll allow you to join the dojo to train your fighting-type, you’ll have to abide to the rules of the dojo.”

“That’s fine.”

“It’s not just the Pokémon who’ll receive training.”

“That’s fine.”

The dojocho, the owner of the dojo, examined Andy calmly. “You seem really bold.”

“That’s f- I mean, I know what I want and I’ll go for it.” Andy shrugged. “I’ll abide to your rules and training if it’ll allow me to train my Mankey, but I’ll leave when I want to. I didn’t start this journey to spend the rest of my life here.”

“You seem determined,” the dojocho mentioned, merely stating the observation.

“Of course, this is a determined expression.” Andy pointed at his face as he said that, but thought about something and a grin appeared. “Or at least, I think so, I don’t have a mirror to check.” He turned to Benny. “Did I look determined?”

The Butterfree nodded.

“Ah, there we  have it.” Andy looked back at the older man with a cheerful expression on his face. “Seems you were right.”

The master of the dojo stared at Andy for a moment, but suddenly burst out in laughter. “Alright kid, you’re accepted to the dojo. You’ve got spirit, I’ll give you that much. How you are as a trainer will soon be revealed.” The older man nodded at him. “I’m called Master Juno or just Sensei.”

Andy nodded once and reached out his hand. “I’m Andy Bansing, I don’t carry any titles yet.”

Juno smiled and shook Andy’s hand. “Give it some time, you will earn any title you wish. I’m certain of that.”

~ 

The days followed each other rapidly as Andy spent his time in the dojo with the newest addition of his team. In this time he got to know his Mankey. Even though the Mankey, just like others of his kind, had a very short temper, he learned it had a playful nature. The first day he had stood on the sideline and just let his Mankey watch, allow him to get used to both Humans and Pokémon. The second day the training started. Andy let his Mankey practise his moves on a wooden dummy, but also stepped up as training partner himself, strapping a wooden plank on his arm, patted with cotton and wool on the inside to absorb the blows the Mankey made on the wood. And he let him train with Benny. Both Pokémon grew stronger and Andy was pleased with how well the training went, but there was one thing he couldn’t control: Bears temper. The Mankey still got angry or aggressive very easily, but not at Andy. He liked his new trainer, who trained with him, wrestled with him and played with him. All the rest of the dojo, that was a different story. Many times Andy had to call him back to his Poké Ball, or have Benny use his sleeping powder to put him to sleep or have Benny use a tackle to divert the attention of the Mankey.

His time in the dojo also allowed him to observe and he was often seen with a notebook and a pen, to write down things he noticed about the behaviour of Pokémon and the interaction between Pokémon and their trainers. It didn’t take long for Andy to have talked with everyone at least once. He could get along with some just fine. With others not so much. Some were fun to hang out with, others not. But overall he enjoyed himself there.

 One day, most the attendants of the dojo had gathered in a large room inside the building for a series of battles. There was no structure, anyone was free to challenge anyone and those who didn’t battle, observed from the sideline. Andy was standing in the middle of the room, two other battles were taking place at the same time, but he hardly noticed. His attention was focussed on the opponent in front of him. A Machop with his trainer, a guy called Matt and who was five years older then Andy, but relatively new with fighting-types.

“Alright Bear, let’s show them what you’ve got.”

The Mankey jumped up, landed on his hands, walked around on his hands a bit, jumped back up and landed on his feet. Andy smiled, enjoying the playful nature of his Pokémon, but his opponent couldn’t laugh with it.

“Hey! A battle is serious business!” Matt shouted from the opposite side.

Andy sighed, wondering why he always ended up with such serious opponents. Bear glared angrily towards the opponent and started breathing through his nose.

“Let him talk,” Andy said, before Bear would rush towards their opponent. “He’s just jealous he can’t do what you just did.”

The Mankey calmed down, hearing Andy’s words and calm voice. He gave it a moment of reconsideration and raised his arms in a victory sign. Andy couldn’t help himself and burst out into laughter.

“That’s the spirit, Bear! Now, are you ready to fight?”

A sudden serious look came over the Mankey as he faced his opponent, placing his feet firmly on the ground and holding his arms in striking position.

“We’re ready,” Andy announced to his opponent. “Feel free to make the first move.” Bear looked over his shoulder to Andy, who winked at him. “We’ve got to give them a fair chance, right?”

Bear nodded enthusiastically and returned his attention to the opposing Machop again.

As the Machop run forward for a low kick, Andy ordered a focus energy for Bear. Then he ordered fury swipes and the Mankey run to the Machop, hitting him several times, before jumping back to where he began. When their opponent ordered a karate chop, Bear jumped aside or leaned backwards to escape the chops and after Andy calmly asked it, landed a low kick himself. After a well places karate chop, the battle was over.

“Nicely done! So. Who wants to be Bears next opponent?” Andy asked looking around, but no-one came. Bear was jumping from one foot to the other, happy with the victory and because it was just fun to do. “Nobody?” Andy looked at his Mankey, clearly still full of energy and took his Poké Ball to call Benny out. Bear immediately turned to Benny, ready to fight.

“Man, Mankey, Man?” Bear asked him.

Benny nodded. “Freee!”

The two engaged in battle, Andy stood aside, watching them and giving out orders to both. Bear was at a disadvantages and the Mankey knew that, but he always seemed to like the challenge Benny posed to him and Benny usually stuck with tackles and evading attacks, instead of using the moves Bear was weak to, like gust or confusion. On the other hand, Bear had gotten stronger and more agile, so it wasn’t long before both Pokémon were panting.

“Alright you guys, that’s enough.” Andy took Benny’s Poké Ball and called him back.

 “I’ll battle your Mankey,” a voice behind Andy spoke and he turned around face one of the students of the dojo, a guy about his age called Jason. Unlike Matt, with whom Andy actually got around with pretty well, Jason was just annoying.

“So let me get this straight,” Andy said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “When I asked if anyone wanted to battle, you didn’t come. Now that he’s tired from a battle with Benny, now you want to fight? No way.”

“What?” Jason asked with an artificial innocent tone in his voice. “Is your Pokémon to weak? Or a coward perhaps?”

Andy wanted to reply to that, but Bear jumped up, landed between them and glared at Jason. The eyes from Andy moved from Jason to his Mankey. “Bear, no. He just wants an easy victory. Don’t let him talk you into a fight like that.”

The Mankey ignored him, breathing heavily through his nose.

“Bear! Don’t give into his taunting.”

“Mankey,” the Pokémon growled.

“Bear,” Andy sighed, as he walked around the Pokémon to stand in front of him. “Now listen to me. You don’t have to prove how awesome you are. I know how awesome you are, you know how awesome you are. Benny knows how awesome you are. That’s all that matters. That Jason doesn’t know is his loss. You don’t have to prove a thing. You are neither weak nor a coward, you know that, as do I. You are the most awesome Pokémon in the building, so you don’t have to feel attacked if this nitwit doesn’t know that. It’s a waste of time to prove him wrong, all that matter is that we know how fantastic you really are. Got it?”

Bear nodded, but Andy wasn’t done yet.

“This one here is a waste of our precious time. He had the chance to accept our challenge and was too chicken to do so. Now that he sees you’ve had an exhausting battle with Benny, now he wants to battle. He really just wants to defeat you, don’t give him that pleasure.”

Bear shook his head, looking fiercely towards Andy.

“Really Bear, as awesome as you are, you must know your limitations as well. You are tired, what point is there to deny that?”

“Mankey! Mankey, mank!”

“Seriously Bear, you get all worked up over nothing. He is not worth our time.”

The Mankey calmed down a bit and leaned to the right, so he could watch the student behind Andy, then shrugged and jumped up to one of the wooden beam, which he held onto with his tail and feet and gently swung, watching the trainers and their Pokémon below him.

“If you really want to battle, Jason, come back in half an hour, after two battles he deserves a break.” Andy didn’t look at Jason when he said this, and he meant it, he would give Jason a chance to battle Bear, but only after Bear could rest for a bit. Jason left without saying a word, but his place was quickly taken by the dojo’s master, Juno.

“You made a good decision there. I think, with some time, your Mankey will be able to control his temper. He has already made a great improvement since the first day under your guidance.”

“I do my best,” Andy said with a confident smile, but the smile faded and he looked towards the open gate. “I think I’ll be leaving soon,” he continued. “There’s only so much he can learn here, and the same counts for me. I feel we learned pretty much we can learn here and all there’s left is to improve those skills. I can do that on the road, I don’t have to stay here for that and I don’t want to. I want to explore what else is out there.”

“You’re right about that,” Juno agreed. “It was good having you here, Andy. I’m sure you’ll do fine on your travel.”

“Thanks for your confidence.” Andy grinned and turned to the dojocho. “But I agree.”

Juno laughed. “With a positive attitude the battle is half won and the goal half reached. And you seem to have an unending supply of optimism. Take your benefits from that and good luck.” He reached out his hand and Andy took it to shake it.

“Thanks for the experience, master Juno. I’ve enjoyed my time here. I’m sure Benny and Bear had a great time as well.” When he let go of Juno’s hand, Andy turned to Bear, still swinging on the wooden beam. “Bear! We’re leaving!”

The Mankey jumped down and landed next to Andy, who took Bears Poké Ball and called him back. After a final goodbye to the other trainers and the master, Andy left the dojo to continue his journey.


	11. A stubborn Mankey

After his stay in the dojo, Andy wandered around in the area of Kanto, sticking to the forest mostly as he just preferred the scenery. What he really liked were mountains, but he hadn’t seen any of those yet. One of the trainers he met during his travel had mentioned Mt. Moon, so he decided to definitely go there. And now with his Mankey he had a fair chance in the gym there, if he would challenge the leader.

Andy sat against a tree, examining a map. His journey had started in Vermillion City, then he had travelled to Saffron city, with the lovely gym leader and her Kadabra. After that had visited Lavender Town with the haunted Pokémon tower, that had been quite interesting. And somewhere on his travel towards Fuchsia City he had come across the dojo, which had been quite an experience as well. Andy planned to visit the Safari Zone. He was really curious about that. And a gym was located in Fushsia City as well, but it wasn’t of much concern to Andy, who didn’t feel like collecting badges, unless the master seemed like someone interesting to meet. After Fuschia City he was thinking about heading to Celedon City, followed by a travel through the forest straight to Mt. Moon. 

Putting his map back in his backpack, Andy started whistling a happy tune, a tune he continued as he got up on his feet started walking again, with his hands casually behind his head. The sun shone  down on him and even though it was a warm day, Andy was glad with the good weather he had so far. A journey like this would be a lot less fun in the pouring rain. Or a blizzard.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice someone had walked up to him.

“How about a battle?” a female voice from behind him suddenly asked and Andy turned around.

“Sure, why not?” Andy watched the girl and had a charming smile for her. “I'm Andy.”

“Clair.” She took out a Poké Ball and threw it in the air. “Psyduck! Come out and fight!”

The Poké Ball opened and released the Pokémon inside, revealing the yellow duck-pokémon.

Andy also took a Poké Ball and he watched it for a moment. Bear was not the best decision in this fight, Psyduck was maybe a water type, but it could learn psychic attacks. He could use Benny, but Benny had been in a tough battle not to long ago and was not fit for a battle against a Psyduck. That, and Bear seemed to enjoy the challenge. So he called him to the field and judging by the smirk that appeared with Clair, she knew of the type disadvantage.

“Don't think I made a mistake here,” Andy informed her. “This is a calculated move.” Maybe she believed it, maybe she didn't, but Andy didn't care as he really had thought about it. A confident grin appeared on his face as he was looking forward to the battle.

The Mankey was doing some stretching exercises, barely giving the Psyduck any notice.

“Alright Bear,” Andy said. With these words the Mankey stopped his stretching excersizes and focussed his attention to the opponent. “Low kick.”

The Mankey ran to the Psyduck, aimed for it's leg and tripped it, making it end up on it's back, but it quickly got up again.

“Use watergun!” Clair ordered and a beam of water hit the Mankey, who held his arms crossed before his face to block the force of water.

“Very nice Bear! Focus energy!”

Bear planted his feet firmly in the ground and a glow surrounded him for a moment.

“Now fury swipes!”

Bear ran to the Psyduck and hit it several times. The Psyduck was driven back by the attacks and seemed unable to defend itself against the fury swipes.

“Confusion!” Clair ordered and the eyes of the Psyduck started to glow blue. The same colour surrounded Bear, who was lifted from the ground. Bear struggled to break free, but it was useless, the confusion attack had him firmly in it's grasp. Bear was slammed into a nearby tree and sank on the ground.

“Bear?”

The Mankey got up again, glaring at the Psyduck.

“Use your karate chop.”

Bear rushed to the Psyduck, raised his claw and hit it, but after Clairs order, a watergun hit him directly in the face and he stumbled back. As he shook the water from his fur, Clair ordered another confusion and just like the last time, Bear was powerless as he rose above the ground.

“M-Mankey,” the Pokémon growled.

“Hang in there, Bear!”

The Mankey glared at Andy.

“I mean, don't give up. Sorry,” Andy said, rubbing the back of his neck, the choice of words had been rather poorly and Bear had every reason to glare at him like that.

The Mankey was slammed against a tree and then on the ground. With some effort, he got back up again, breathing heavily through his nose. Not as a sign of fatigue, but of anger.

“Use your Seismic toss.”

Mankey nodded, run to his opponent, grabbed him by the arms and started spinning around. After a few spins, he let go of the Psyduck, which flew through the air, against a tree and dropped on the ground, fainted.

Clair called her Pokémon back, looking at Andy with a small frown, followed by a smile. Andy didn't notice, as his attention was on his Mankey and he slapped Bear on his shoulder.

“Nicely done!”

“How about a second match?” Clair asked, but Andy shook his head.

“No thanks, this was a though battle for Bear, he should...”

“Are you scared?” Clair interrupted him. “Are you afraid you'll lose? Are you weak?”

The Mankey started shouting and jumping up and down, agitated by her words.

“Calm down Bear,” Andy told his Mankey. “We've talked about this before. Don't let yourself be taunted like that.”

“Mankey! Mankey, man, mankey!” Bear said, shaking his head and glaring at Clair.

“No Bear, you need your rest.”

“Mankey,” Bear growled as he glared at Andy.

Andy didn't back away and they stared at each other for a moment.

“Fine,” Andy finally said. “If you don't want to listen to me then we'll fight. But if you end up in the Pokémon Center, I'm going to tell you I told you so.”

The Mankey turned around and beckoned Clair to call her Pokémon. She had an Ivysaur this time and the battle began.

Just as Andy predicted, after the last battle Bear was in no shape to win this and even though he could land a few hits on the Ivysaur and take a few hits from it, a vine whip ended the battle and Bear lay unconscious on the ground.

Andy sighed, took his Poké Ball and called him back. He then looked at Clair.  “Clair, that was a good battle. I hope it knocked some sense into my Mankey.”

“Why did you let hem fight if you were against it?” Clair asked, with a hint of disdain in her voice. “You are the trainer.”

Andy shrugged and showed a smile. “I let my Pokémon have a say in the matter, they're the ones doing the fighting after all. And this was a good lesson for Bear.” He really couldn’t care less what this trainer thought about it. “Excuse me now, I have to take him to nurse Joy.”

With this, Andy turned around and continued his walk over the path, leaving the female trainer behind. It had been a nice battle, sure, but that was it. He really didn’t feel the need to form any kind of friendship with this trainer.

The trees on both sides cast their shadows on the path, giving a break from the sun that was shining relentlessy on the land. Andy looked at the Poké Ball in his hand as he walked, even though he wouldn't admit it, he was concerned about his stubborn Mankey. He sighed, putting the Poké Ball in his pocket, and followed the path until he found the Pokémon Center that had been marked on the map. The building looked like any other Pokémon Center, as did the nurse who run it. Walking up the counter he first gave a cheerful greeting and then handed in  both his Poké Balls, while he told the nurse what had happened. She promised to take care of them and Andy took place on one of the chairs, where he waited until nurse Joy was done.

 As always, the waiting part was the most agonizing. Minutes seemed to pass like hours and there was little distraction for him. He was leaning on his own knees with his elbows, the fingers of his hand intertwined, and he waited like that.

Suddenly the door opened and Benny came flying to him, he sat upright and Benny landed on his lap. Nurse Joy said his Butterfree was alright, but that his Mankey needed a bit more care. Andy nodded as he watched her retreat to the examination room and stroke Benny on the head.

“Feeling better again?”

Benny nodded.

“Good, now we wait for Bear.”

It took another hour before nurse Joy came forward with the Mankey next to her. She handed Andy his Poké Balls and told him everything was alright. Andy thanked her for her care, turned to his Mankey and looked at him as an eyebrow slowly rose.

“I told you so.”

“Mankey,” the Pokémon growled.

“I said I would say that,” Andy said, waving his index finger at his Pokémon. “You deserved it. I'm not saying I'm the best trainer in the world. Well, I am, the world just doesn't know that yet, but regardless of that, I know what I'm doing, Bear. You should listen to me. If I decide we're not accepting a challenge, it's not because I think you're weak, but because I see you're not going to make it through to the end. Sure, we can lose when we accept a challenge when you're in perfect shape, but to start a battle when you're clearly tired has little use. That girl knew she could get a victory now, that's why she tried to talk us into it. Well, tried, she succeeded.” Andy stroke the fur on top of his head. “An awesome Pokémon like you doesn't have to prove  himself in battle. It's their loss that they don't know. Keep that in mind, ok?”

Bear nodded and Andy grinned. “Perfect. Now, let's eat.”

“Mankey!” Bear said, jumping enthusiastically up and down and Benny also nodded eagerly.

The grinning Andy thanked nurse Joy again for her wonderful help and left the Center with his two Pokémon, to look for a decent thing to eat.


	12. The travel so far

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't really have inspiration for other Kanto adventures. I know what his travel looks like, but none of the places he visits will have a decent adventure worthy of its own chapter. There are battles, but writing out several Pokémon battles he may win or lose without much else going will get boring. So, I'm moving on to Johto, as there will be some adventures waiting for him there. 
> 
> This chapter will be a summary of this journey through Kanto, starting from way in the beginning of the story and up to when he boards the magnet train to go to Goldenrod City in the Johto region.

The fourteen year old Andy found a Caterpie in the forest near his hometown Mespirit City on Rhando Island, the largest of five islands called the Rorie-islands, when he was enjoying a picnic with his friend Henry and Henry’s male Nidoran. Andy named the Pokémon Benny and with him started his career as trainer. It didn’t take long for Benny to evolve into a Metapod and after two more battles, a double battle with Henry which they won epically and  a tough battle against a Vespiqueen, he evolved into Butterfree. 

Shortly after, Henry and Andy left Rhando island to start their adventure as trainers in the Kanto region, where they wished each other good luck and left on their own journey.

The journey in Kanto had started in Vermillion City and from there he had travelled towards Lavender Town where Andy had visited the haunted Pokémon Tower. After that he had travelled to Saffron City, where he had fought and lost his first gym battle against the psychic gym leader Sabrina. After that he had decided to go to Fuschia City, as he was curious about the Safari zone that was located there. On this trip Andy met a short-tempered Mankey, which he invited to go with him after wrestling the Mankey and pinning him down. He named the Mankey Bear and the first training Bear received was in a dojo, where he proved he was both strong and stubborn, the latter resulting in a loss against an Ivysaur not long after leaving the dojo. When Bear was recovered from the tough battle, Andy left the Pokémon Center and treated his Pokémon to a fantastic meal, a takeaway hamburger meal, and continued his travel towards Fuschia City.

 In Fuschia city Andy spent a while in the Safari Zone, observing the Pokémon living there. He also met with Koga, the gym leader there, but didn’t challenge him to a battle.

 The travel continued and as he earlier had decided, he headed to Mt. Moon, as he was curious about that. He took his time going there, going over the water and passing a place called the 'Seafoam Islands' where supposedly Articuno resided, He searched for the blue member of the legendary bird trio, but couldn't find it. Which was too bad, because he really would have liked to have seen the Pokémon ever since he had joked about catching it one throw with a regular Poké Ball, that day he had found Benny.

 The travel took him through Cinnebar Island, Pallet Town, Viridian City, the Viridian Forest and ended in Pewter City. It was quite a travel and he often stayed a few days in each town or village he travelled through, spending some time in the area to see what Pokémon lived there, as he really wasn’t in a hurry. Along they way, when he closed in on Pewter City, he accepted a challenge, one of many he had accepted during the travel (all of them epic battles in which he displayed his awesome skills, even those he lost), and in that battle his Mankey evolved to a Primeape. And with Bear he also was able to defeat the Pewter City gym leader and earn his very first, and so far only, badge.

 In Mt. Moon he met a colony of Clefairy and Clefable and he spent a few hours there, observing them. Another thing he found in the cave system of Mt. Moon was a Moonstone, it was lying there on the ground and he picked it up, deciding it would be a present for Henry when he would meet up with him again, in the restaurant where they had already reserved a table. He travelled through Mt. Moon end ended in Cerulean City, where he decided to challenge the water gym and after a though battle he won with his Butterfree. That made his total count of badges two and he was pleased with that.

From Cerulean City it was easy to travel back to Saffron City and he had a good reason to do so. He had talked with another trainer about the Johto region and he wanted to visit it, he felt he had seen most of the interesting things in the Kanto region and the trainer had made him especially curious about the Sprout Tower. So back to Saffron City it was.

 Finally back Saffron City Andy first visited Sabrina and when she asked if he was there for a rematch, he laughed and said he still didn’t have a Pokémon that could defeat her Kadabra and that he had just wanted to see her. After spending some more time in the gym and learning about the psychic types that were there, he boarded the magnet train, all eager to explore the region and meet new trainers and Pokémon. The magnet train brought him to Goldenrod City in the Johto region. A travel he spent most time reading in the trainers guide of Johto, a book he bought at the magnet train station, just like he had bought such a book at the port in his hometown about the Kanto region.

Soon enough he arrived in Goldenrod City. 

 


	13. The daycare

After the magnet train had opened it’s doors in Goldenrod City, Andy stepped out and looked around. The tall buildings and many people here made it obvious that this was a big city, like Saffron City was. He walked over the clean pavement in the crowd of people, actually enjoying the walking in the busy street for a moment. He had walked a lot through forests, so this was a welcome change to him.

At a crossing, he chose a less crowded road to follow and at the next crossing he did the same. The building were getting smaller as he continued to follow his chosen direction and less cars were driving on the road. It was clear he had left the busy city centre and had moved to the residential area, with an occasional shop or cafeteria. The people on the streets barely noticed him, a common feat for people living in a large city, as Andy already knew. He wasn’t bothered by it, if he needed someone to talk to, who would just walk up to someone, or bring out one of his Pokémon. Casually strolling over the pavement, Andy noticed an old lady leaving a small grocery store, holding two brown paper bags in her arms. Andy fastened his pace and walked up to the lady. “Good day, madam," he said as he caught up with her. "Maybe I could help you with those?”

The old lady, whose grey hair was kept in a neat bun on the back of her head, looked up to the taller Andy and smiled. “That is friendly of you, young man," she said to him. "If you could take one of these bags, that would surely help me.”

“No problem!” Andy said as he took one of the paper bags out of her hands. “Do you live far?”

“Oh, just about twenty minutes of walking I suppose, I live just outside the city with my husband.”

Andy nodded to that, to show he was okay with that. “I’m Andy, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Andy. I’m Sophia.”

The two walked for a moment in silence as Andy watched some children playing on the sidewalk. A Chansey came running towards the children, letting out worried sounds and gestured towards the house. He concluded the Chansey must belong to the parents and had gotten the job to look after the children.

“What is a young man like yourself doing in Goldenrod City?” the old lady asked and Andy shifted his attention back to her.

“I’m travelling the world as a Pokémon trainer to learn about Pokémon and there wasn’t much left to discover in my hometown.”

“Where are you from?”

“Rhando Island, Mesperit City.”

“We’ve been there on vacation years ago,”  the old woman sighed with a happy smile. “It’s a beautiful island.”

Andy wholeheartedly agreed and the two talked about the island. Andy hardly noticed how they left the city and only came across a couple of lone houses, until they reached the old lady’s house. She opened the porch for Andy and invited him in for a cup of coffee, to thank him for the trouble. Andy gladly accepted that and followed the old lady over the white pebbles that served as a path from the porch to the front door. Even though he didn’t see any, he heard the sounds of Pokémon. He decided to ask later, as he liked the prospect of coffee.

“George?” the old lady asked as she entered the house. “I brought a guest.”

“Really now?” An old man came from another room and observed Andy for a few moment, before coming closer and holding out his hand. “I’m George.”

Andy took his hand and shook it. “Andy, nice to meet you.”

“I promised him coffee,” Sophia said. “Will you make some?”

“Of course,” George said and he gestured to the bag Andy was holding. “You can give the groceries to me, lad. I’ll put them away. The living room is behind that door, make yourself comfortable.”

Andy nodded, handed the old man the bag and went into the living room.

The living room was small, but cosy. There was a brown leather couch and two comfortable leather chairs. A small table was in between  the couch and chairs and had a white table-cloth over it. On the floor was a thick carpet and on the window-sill were several potted plants, a few larger potted plants stood in a corner of the living room. In the other corner was a small television set. Andy took place on the couch and a few minutes later, the old couple entered the living room. George held the door open for Sophia, who held a platter with a coffeepot, three cups with a floral pattern on it, a small jar of milk and a small bowl filled with white sugar. She placed the platter in the middle of the small table and poured coffee in the three cups.

“Milk and sugar?” Sophia asked Andy.

“No thank you,” Andy responded politely. “I drink my coffee black.” He reached out to take the cup from the old lady

“Sophia here told me you’re a trainer,” George said. “From Rhando island.”

“That’s true.” Andy held the cup lightly between his fingers and blew on the hot liquid inside, it was nice to sit down for a moment and just enjoy a cup of coffee.

“We are visited often by trainers,” the old man continued. “We run a daycare here.”

“Ah,” Andy said, as he lowered the cup. “So that’s where those noises came from, I thought I heard Pokémon. Do you keep a lot of them here?”

George shook his head to that question. “Not too much, we want to properly take care of the Pokémon here. Would you like to see them?”

“Of course!” Andy immediately said, and he was about to put down his cup as well.

Sophia shook her head with a small smile on her lips. “Come now boys, drink your coffee first. The Pokémon will still be there when we’ve finished it.”

A grinning Andy brought his cup to his mouth to take a sip. He was glad he had come across the daycare lady in Goldenrod City, he hadn’t visited a day-care yet and it had been on his to-do list.

After they had talked about his travel so far and the island he came from, while enjoying freshly brewed coffee and home-made cookies, George invited Andy to come along and took him to the backyard, where several Pokémon were walking around. There was a Mareep grazing some grass, two Skitty’s who were playing together,  a Donphan was sleeping in a corner, a Vulpix was cleaning her fur and Parasect curiously walked towards them.

“Would you mind if I let my Pokémon rest there?” Andy asked and George made an inviting gesture to the field.

“Be my guest. There is plenty of food and good companion for them.”

Andy quickly dug up his Poké Balls and called his Butterfree and Primeape. “Why don’t you two rest a bit here, you can eat and get to know some other Pokémon. I’ll be inside the house.”

The two Pokémon nodded and turned to the Parasect that had already asked them a question in their Pokémon language. Andy watched it for a moment, before following the old man back into the house. “Can I help out in the daycare?” he asked bluntly, feeling he could learn much more here then on his travel.

George looked at him for a moment, before nodding. “We could use a pair of young arms. But wouldn’t you rather continue your travel?”

Andy made a dismissing motion with his hand. “The world will still be there to travel in after a few days, I can learn a whole lot more here. If you’ll just feed me and my Pokémon and offer a place to sleep, I will work for free.”

The old man started to laugh. “You’re straightforward. I like that. Agreed, you and your Pokémon can stay here and help out for as long as you like.”

A grinning Andy held out his hand and George shook it to seal the agreement. Andy was really glad he had come across the daycare lady now. This was certainly going to be a great experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the most exciting of chapters, but this is the location where the next couple of chapters will take place, so arriving here was important enough to write out.


	14. The Furret

The days quickly passed as Andy worked in the daycare. He helped George feeding the Pokémon and cleaning their place. He helped Sophia in the kitchen to prepare food for the Pokémon guests, as the couple referred to them. He took every chance he had to ask George about Pokémon and he soon learned George had acquired a lot of knowledge over the years. Between the feeding and cleaning, Andy spent a lot of time outside, just sitting somewhere and observing the various Pokémon.

A trainer had picked up her Parasect, but another had dropped his Diglett and Machoke off. The moment Bear noticed the Machoke he glared at him and a rivalry between the two was born. Both Benny and the Diglett tried to settle things between them, but to no avail. With a sigh Benny set down next to Diglett and together they watched a staring contest that had unfolded between the two fighting-types. Andy watched it as well and shook his head, but decided not to intervene. All he did was remind Bear that the Machoke had to be in the same or better condition when the trainer returned. “So don’t beat him up,” Andy added, waving his index finger to emphasize his words.

Bear grudgingly accepted that, but didn’t stop glaring towards it.

“Benny! How about a walk?” Andy asked, deciding that would be a better way to spent the free afternoon then watching his uptight Pokémon. Benny looked at his wings, his eyes sparkling with a withheld laughter. Andy didn’t withheld, he laughed. “Alright, you’ll fly and I walk. How about that?”

“Free!” Benny said, flying up and he started to circle around Andy.

“Bear, behave while I’m gone. I don’t want to see that Machoke all battered and bruised when I get back. Okay?” Bear grumbled but nodded and Benny waved to the Diglett as followed Andy who had turned around and entered the house. Once inside he looked around to see if he could see any of the old couple and he soon spotted George. “George," he said, getting the man's attention. "I’m going out for a stroll. I’ll be back in time to feed the Pokémon.”

“That’s fine,” the old man said, smiling friendly to Andy. “Have fun.”

“Will do!” Andy put up his hand as a greeting and left the house. The daycare was located close to Goldenrod City, but also close to Ilex Forest and that was where Andy was going to.

 Even though the sun was blocked by a thin layer of clouds, the temperature was pleasant. Benny enjoyed the walk, or flight, in the forest and was flying from tree to tree. Andy watched him, glad to see his Pokémon was enjoying himself. When Benny found a flower field he flew towards it for a snack and Andy patiently waited for him. It didn’t take long for other Butterfree to appear in the flower field as well and Andy sat down under a tree. By the looks of it, this could take a while. Benny had a great time feeding and playing with other Butterfree and Andy loved watching them. It was the first time he had ever seen Benny so happy and he complemented himself with the fantastic idea of coming to Goldenrod. After a while Benny flew back to Andy.

“Ready?”

Benny nodded and Andy got up again.

“Alright then, let’s explore the forest some more.”

Benny nodded again and turned around to the other Butterfree, flying backwards and waving to them. 

They continued their stroll as a Noctowl flew over and Andy watched it for a second, it was the first time had seen a wild one. “It looks awfully serious, doesn’t it?” Andy whispered to Benny, who nodded in agreement. A grin appeared on his face. “Glad you agree. We’ll let it fly freely then.”

Again a nod from the Butterfree, but then he looked to a place behind Andy. Andy turned around and noticed a Weedle crawling up a branch.

“There sure are a lot of wild Pokémon here,” Andy sighed. There was a lot to see and as the walk continued Andy noticed several wild Pokémon. A Hoothoot sat on a branch, tilting it’s head when Andy moved under it. Some Caterpie were feeding on berries that lay on the ground under a bush. Some Pineco hung in a tree and a little Paras scurried around. “Amazing,” he said, trying to take in as much he could about the things going on around him.

Benny flew around as he had done the entire stroll. Sometimes he stayed close to Andy, sometimes he flew off to explore the area. Andy always watched him, but didn’t tell him to stay close. In his opinion, Benny was free to fly wherever he wanted. The Butterfree was a few meters away and was flying between some trees when he stopped and looked at the ground. Curiously Andy moved closer, but Benny turned around and came flying back. He flew just in front of Andy, flew back towards the trees, turned around to Andy and flew more towards the trees again.

“What’s wrong?”

“Free!”

“Alright, I’m coming.” Andy followed his Pokémon, who clearly had spotted something that he wanted to show to Andy. He moved through the bushes towards the trees were Benny was. By the looks of his flying pattern, Benny was concerned. Andy frowned and walked up to his Pokémon, who pointed to the ground.

A Furret lay on the ground, breathing heavily and laborious. The fur was dirty and in a mess. Andy knelt down besides it and gently touched her, his touch made the Furret cringe and he quickly pulled back his hand. “Hey, are you alright?” he asked, his voice filled with the concern he felt.

The Furret opened her eyes and looked at Andy for a moment, her eyes filled with fear and she tried to make herself as small as possible. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. Let me help you.”

“Furret…furret,” the Pokémon softly said and Andy looked at Benny for help.

Benny landed next to the Furret and began talking to it.

The Furret listened to Benny and carefully looked at Andy again, she still looked frightened.

“Trust me, I won’t hurt you.” He reached out again, but the Furret backed away. “Benny?”

Benny again began talking to the Furret, reassuring her that it would be okay, that she could trust him. She looked up to Benny with a sad look and Benny gave her a hug, folding his wings over her.

For the third time Andy reached out and the Furret let him touch her this time. He gently picked her up. The 1,50m Pokémon was lighter then he had expected, which was good as he had to walk back to the daycare with her in his arms. “You will be alright,” he promised the Furret as he started walking back towards the day-care. Benny flew besides him, staying close now. The eyes of the Furret were closed and Andy picked up the pace, concerned about her health.

 When the daycare finally came in sight Andy let out a relieved sigh. He ordered Benny to fly ahead and warn George. Benny did as he was told and moments later George came out of the house, closely followed by his wife Sophia. They didn’t know what Benny was trying to tell them, but they had understood it was important. Sophia noticed the Furret in Andy’s arms and quickly walked up to him. “What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know, I found it in the forest.”

The Furret was brought indoors, where Sophia promised to take care of it. Andy nodded and went with George outside to take care of the other Pokémon there. There wasn’t much else he could do, but he had faith in Sophia and was positive she would be able to nurse the Furret back to health. Once he stood outside, he noticed his Primeape and the Machoke were still glaring at each other, even though they were sitting on opposite sites now and both ate food from a bowl. With a sigh Andy scratched his head, at least Bear had listened and hadn’t attacked the Machoke, but this couldn’t go on like this. He could already picture how the trainer returned and found his Machoke all battered and bruised on the ground. The possibility that the Machoke could win was one Andy didn’t even consider.

With a potion Sophia treated the Furret's injuries and when the two men came by to see how the Furret was, she asked them to bring her to one of the enclosed areas of the garden.

 

***

The next day the sun shone and the Furret sat outside, enjoying the warm sunlight on her fur. Suddenly her ears perked and she jumped up to hide under a bush when Andy came towards her. Andy frowned, but placed the bowl of food on the grass and walked away again. She waited for Andy to be gone before coming out of hiding and cautiously walk up to the bowl. She sniffed the content before she started to eat from it.

From inside the house, Andy watched the Furret eat. “She seems to be fine again, but she’s always hiding when I come close to her.”

“You don’t know what happened to her,” Sophia explained, smiling friendly at Andy while she was knitting in her rocking chair. “If it were humans who caused it, it’s normal she shies away from them.”

“She doesn’t come close to other Pokémon either,” Andy pointed out.

“That’s true.” Sophia agreed, looking down at her knitting. “But it’ll work out. Give it some time.”

Andy looked outside again, he was worried about the Pokémon even though she seemed to have recovered well. He didn’t like giving it time, he wanted to help her now. He stood by the window for a while, just looking at the Furret, who seemed to act normally when no-one was around. “I’m going out again,” he suddenly said, turning away from the window and started going towards the door.

“Alright Andy,” Sophia said with her calm voice, her knitting needles didn’t stop ticking for  a second.

To put action to his words, Andy went outside again and he went straight to the Furret. The soft breeze had grown into a decent wind and light grey clouds moved through the sky, casting temporary shades on the ground beneath them. Forecasts hadn’t been good, but the sun was still shining, Andy hoped it would remain like that for a while. When the Furret heard Andy approach she again took shelter under the bush, but Andy ignored it and walked into the enclosed area. When he reached it he just sat down in the grass, his eyes focussed on the bush where the Furret was hiding. “Why are you so afraid, I’m the one that found you in the forest and brought you here." He smiled a bit. "Well, Benny found you, I just did the heavy carry work." The smile faded as the light-hearted remark received no response. "Why do you hide away like that? I’m not that ugly, am I?”

Again no response came from under the bush.

“Benny!” Andy called out to his Butterfree and soon after he heard Benny approach.

The Butterfree landed next to Andy and tilted his head, as if asking what Andy needed from him.

“Could you talk to her? She’s ignoring me and it has seriously damaged my ego.”

Benny chuckled.

“Don’t laugh! That’s serious business. Don’t you know a bruised ego can be fatal?” Benny didn’t stop chuckling and Andy’s grin gave away he was joking, something he liked doing. “Talk to her,” he urged again, more serious this time and Benny nodded.

The Butterfree flew up and landed next to the bush, where he started talking to the leaves. A soft reply came from the bush and Benny responded to it. After that he talked again, but no response came. Benny shrugged and flew up again, to land next to Andy.

“Not getting through to her?”

Benny shook his head.

“Women,” Andy sighed and Benny sighed as well, nodding to show he agreed.

It didn’t seem like the Furret would come, so Andy got back up and returned to the house. A chill wind was picking up and dark clouds accumulated. It seemed bad weather was approaching. Who knew, forecasts were correct. A gust of wind moved over the land and through Andy’s hair. He took his hair to keep it out of his face and looked over to Benny, as if he was responsible for it. Benny chuckled, but a second gust took the Butterfree by surprise and he wildly flapped with his wings to stay in the air. Andy took him in his arms and walked with him towards the house, his hair now moving freely by the wind.

Sophia stood in the doorway and waved to them. “Come in quickly Andy, it seems like it’s going to be bad weather.”

Andy nodded, but looked over his shoulder to the Pokémon that were still outside.

“Don’t worry,” Sophia reassured Andy, knowing very well what went through his mind, “they have shelter.”

Again Andy nodded and he entered the house.


	15. The storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Pokémon speech. We all know the Pokémon language from the anime and in my story it's the same, they communicate with saying the name of parts of the name of their species. They speak like that to Humans and other Pokémon, with the difference that Humans can't understand Pokémon speech and other Pokémon do understand it. So, in my in story, when a Pokémon speak to a human it is written like we hear it in the anime. When they speak to each other I write out what they say in normal words and put it in italics. Just keep in mind that they don't suddenly speak the human language, it's just a way of letting the reader know what is being said.

The dark clouds that had been accumulating started to unleash their rain. A grey curtain of water came down to the earth, bringing much wanted water to the plants, but making Pokémon and Humans alike take shelter. Under the bush the Furret lay on the ground. Her ears were flat against her head, her tail was pushed against her body and she shivered. Lightning lit the sky and a rolling thunder soon followed it. The Furret closed her eyes when the sound rolled over the land. The weather scared her and there were so many Humans and strange Pokémon around. Slowly she came from under the bush and looked around. No-one was outside, everyone had taken shelter from the weather. She cringed from another thunder stroke, but moved further into the garden, rain falling down on her fur. After a moment of doubt she took off, she ran to the fence and jumped over it, disappearing in the rain.

In one of the wooden shacks in the garden, Bear appeared in the doorway. The Primeape had seen the Furret leave and now he stepped outside the shack he had taken shelter in. Suddenly he started running, jumped over the fence as well and followed the Furret.

Inside the house another Pokémon had witnessed it all. “Freeee!” Benny called out to Andy jumping up and down on the window sill.

Andy came closer to see what is was that had his Pokémon all worked up and looked outside. He noticed Bear outside the gardens fence and he was running away. “What the… Where is Bear going all of the sudden?”

Benny started talking, motioning to where the Furret had been sitting, pointing to the fence, pointing in the direction Bear had run off to, flying in circles and desperately tried to explain what had happened.

“Wait, wait, wait, calm down.” Andy said to his Butterfree, if Benny was like this it was almost impossible to make out what he wanted to say. “Bear left in that direction,” he stated as he pointed outside, that was something he knew for sure and a good starting point. He saw how Benny nodded, so he knew that part was correct. Now the guessing game would begin. “Something happened to make him do that," he muttered with a frown, "he’s not the one to willingly get wet fur.”

Again Benny nodded and he pointed to the  place where the Furret had been staying, followed by pointing in the direction Bear had left.

“The Furret left and Bear went after her?”

Benny nodded, flying up and down enthusiastically.

Andy raised his arms in a victory sign. “Oh yeah, I’m great.” He lowered his arms again and glanced outside the window, to the wet and grey land. “I probably should…” Andy started, but Sophia interrupted him.

“No, you shouldn’t go after him. Have some confidence in your Pokémon. He will return.”

Andy turned around to Sophia and nodded. He didn’t like to just sit there while his Primeape was alone and getting wet, but he would have faith in Bear. He turned back to the window and looked at the abandoned and grey landscape.

“Be careful, Bear.”

* * *

 Bear reached the forest and looked around. The rain continued to fall down on him and the land around him, the grass and leaves seemed to be of a darker shade of green in this weather.

He ventured into the forest, looking at the footprints in the mud and using his nose to check the scent, as much as it was possible with the heavy rainfall. The footprints lead to a thick bush and Bear walked over to it, shaking his body to get rid of the water in his fur. A useless action as the rain quickly replaced the water he had shaken off.

 _“Are you there?”_ Bear asked, stopping just before the bush. Lightning lit up the area briefly, but Bear paid no attention to it.

 _“P-please go away,”_ a soft voice said from under the bush.

_“Why do you hide here all alone when you had food and shelter back there?”_

_“I don’t…”_ she stopped talking and cringed as thunder sounded through the forest. _“Please don’t hurt me.”_

 _“You’re no match for me, it’s not worth my time,”_ Bear boasted, puffing out his chest.

_“Y-you’re strong?”_

_“Of course! Have you seen these muscles?”_ Bear started to show off and made poses much like a bodybuilder would.

A soft giggle came from under the bush and Bear glared at it.

 _“S-sorry,”_ the Furret whispered.

Bears glare remained for a moment, but he took a deep breath, shrugged and looked up at the treetops for a short moment, before looking back at the bush. He knew he was awesome, he didn’t need the Furrets conformation. _“Why do you sit here alone, while you had everything you need back there?”_

_“I…don’t like to be among so many Pokémon and Humans…I…never have. I’m much rather alone.”_

_“I don’t believe that,”_ Bear bluntly said, sitting down on the wet soil. _“I was alone. When I was still a Mankey my colony left me because I was too weak. There’s nothing fun about being alone and if I hadn’t met Andy, I still would be alone and weak.”_

_“Who’s…”_

_“The younger Human that brought your food today. He claims to be good looking, and maybe he is for Human standards, but he’s no where near as good looking as me.”_ He hit with his fist against his chest to emphasize his words.

The words were met with nothing but silence.

_“Speaking of which, he brought you to that place to recover.”_

_“I know, that Butterfree reminded me about that too,”_ the Furret whispered.

_“Benny? He’s a good guy. He’s been with Andy for the longest time. He told me they met in a forest and he liked him, so he decided to go with him. He was with Andy when they found you.”_

Again only silence came from the bush, besides the raindrops falling on the leaves.

_“What happened anyway? Why were you so beat up?”_

_“Some Human came and when he saw me he said he wanted to catch me. I always try to stay away from Humans, but this one caught me by surprise. He called a Heracross to help him and let the Heracross attack me. I got scared and tried to flee, but that Heracross was stronger then me. In the end the Human said I was to weak to be caught, but that it was a good practise for his Heracross.”_

_“Wait till I get that trainer in my fists,”_ Bear growled, glaring angrily around in the hopes that the trainer was there.

 _“I was barely conscious when that hu- I mean Andy came and, I didn’t want to come with him, but he was persistent and I couldn’t flee anyway. I was scared of what he would do if I kept refusing and on the way I passed out,”_ the Furret continued with her soft voice, she remembered clearly how much her body had ached. _“Then I woke up there…”_

_“You have to admit it wasn’t bad there.”_

_“No…but I’m just not comfortable around strange Pokémon and Humans, I never was.”_

The cry of a Hoothoot sounded through the forest and the Furret cringed, making a soft squeaking noise.

 _“You’re easily scared, aren’t you?”_ Bear asked, looking at the bush. Water dripped from his white fur to the ground, but he didn’t pay attention to that. _“Come back with me, Andy will protect you. Feed you. You won’t have to sleep in the rain anymore. Or do you want to stay alone for the rest of your life?”_

_“N-not really.”_

_“Do you have a family to go back to?”_

_“N-no.”_

_“Then come with me,”_ Bear said. _“You’ll have me and Benny and Andy. He’s really okay for a Human.”_

No reply came from under the bush.

 _“Well, I’ve been standing in the rain long enough,”_ Bear said as he got up. _“You know where the place is.”_

Bear turned around and walked away, when the Furret cautiously came from under the bush.

_“You suppose he wouldn’t mind to have someone useless as me…”_

_“I’m sure he’ll take you in.”_

Thunder rumbled through the sky and the Furret jumped up and presses her body against Bear, keeping her tail close to her body and making herself small. Bear sighed and started walking. _“Come on, we’re wet enough.”_

The Furret quickly followed him, walking behind Bear on all for legs, making sure to stay close.

* * *

Andy was still standing near the window, waiting for his Pokémon to return. The old day-care lady could say as many times as she wanted that Bear would return, but Andy was concerned and he couldn’t shake that feeling off. And Benny was concerned as well, Andy could tell by the way Benny was looking outside with a sad face, sitting on the window sill.

“Don’t worry Benny, he’ll be back soon,” Andy said, scratching Benny’s head. It were the words Sophia had spoken to him and even though that hadn't convinced him he hoped it would help Benny.

“Free,” Benny sighed.

“Yeah, I know. I’m worried too.”

Benny let out another sigh when his compound eyes noticed movement in the rain. “Free?” Then he recognized the shape of a Primeape and he flew up, all excited and happy again.

“What is it?” Andy asked and he looked through the window as well. “You see him?”

Benny nodded and flew towards the door. Andy quickly followed him and Sophia also got up from her seat, but calmly followed them in her own pace. It didn't take Andy long to reach the front door and as soon as he opened it he walked out, into the rain. “Bear! You had me worried, where have you been?”

Bear glanced aside and pointed to the wet Furret next to him.

“You went to collect her?”

“Primeape,” Bear said, nodding.

“Good job, Bear.” Andy patted him on his wet head. “You’re the best.” He then got down on a knee so he was closer to the ground and looked at the Furret. “Why did you run off like that?”

“F-furret,” the Furrest shyly said

“Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The Furret made a step in Andy’s direction and Andy reached out his hand, but it made her back away again. The Furret took in a deep breath and walked forward again, one careful step after another until she could almost touch the hand. She sniffed it first and Andy smiled.

He placed his hand on her wet head and gently stroke it. Her first reaction was to cringe, but after the second stroke her muscles relaxed. After the third stroke she rubbed her head in his hand. “I’m not as bad as you first thought, right princess?” he asked the Furret as he took his hand back.

Bear came next to Andy and started tapping on the pocket where he kept his Poké Balls.

“What’s up? You want to go back into your Poké Ball?”

Bear shook his head and pointed to the Furret.

“For her?”

Bear nodded and Andy looked at the Furret. “Do you want to come with me?”

The Furret looked at Andy, looked at Bear and then back at Andy and gave an uncertain nod.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to. If you prefer to stay free…”

The Furret shook her head. “Furret, furret fur.”

“You don’t have anything to return to, do you?”

Again the Furret shook her head.

“Well then, you’re free to come with me, princess. I’m sure Bear told you everything about me, how awesome I am as trainer and just in general really.”

“Ape primeape prime,” Bear said, placing his fists in his side and sticking his nose in the air.

“Oh come on, you’re not half as awesome as me.”

The Primape puffed out his chest and hit on it with his fist. Andy got up from the ground, pointing to himself.

“No way you can compete with this, mister.”

“Primeape!” Bear said, as he took a defensive stance.

“You’re right, this matter can only be solved by wrestling.”

Benny sighed, the Furret let out a soft giggle and Sophia shook her head from the doorway. “Come now boys," she said to them, "it’s raining. You’ll have time to play later on. Come inside and dry up. I’ll make something warm.”

“Even better idea!” Andy said and Bear nodded enthusiastically. Arm in arm the two walked towards the house and again Benny let out another sigh.

The Furret cautiously followed Andy inside, shaking her fur to get rid of the water in the hallway, as Bear did as well.

Sophia came with a few towels and handed them to Andy, who took them from her hands and turned to his Primeape. “Hey Bear. Catch!”

As Bear looked up a towel hit his face.

“Prime,” he growled, but Andy grinned.

“Dry up with that, it’ll help.” He was drying his own hair as he reached out the last towel to the Furret, who stood up on her hind legs and took it, sniffed it and quizzically looked at the soft fabric in her paws. Andy laughed when he saw that and placed his towel in his neck to take the other towel back. “Right, right, you’ve never seen this before. Let me help you.” With the towel Andy started to rub the Furret’s fur dry. Bear was drying himself up with the towel, dancing a bit as he was drying his back. “You’ll need a name,” Andy told the Furret as he was drying her head. “Let’s see…” He stopped for a moment to think about it. “Kim, that will be your name. How about it?” The Furret gave a happy nod and Andy continued drying her fur. “Kim it is then. Welcome to my team, Kim.”


	16. Back on the road

On a beautiful morning Andy woke up. He stretched his arms, scratched his hair and turned over to his side, snuggling deep inside the blanket again. He would have been able to continue his morning slumber if there wouldn’t have been that annoying tapping noise on the window. He looked up to see his Butterfree flying in front of the window and tapping on it. Grumbling he pulled the blanket higher, but to no avail. “Benny,” he grumbled, taking his pillow and throwing it at him, but the window was in the way and Benny was completely unaffected by the pillow.

With a sigh he got up, there was no way his Pokémon would leave after seeing he was awake. “Fine, fine, I’m coming.” He pushed his blanket away and got out of the comfortable bed. He walked across the small room to open the window, where he was greeted with a cheerful ‘Free!’

“Good morning to you too,” Andy said, scratching Benny’s head. “I guess you’re hungry, huh?”

Benny shook his head.

“No? You already had breakfast?”

Benny nodded.

“Lucky you, I’m starving.” Andy’s eyes shifted from his Pokémon to the world outside. That one glance was all he needed to decide he would continue his journey today. He had spent a total of two weeks at the day care and even though it had been fun and a great learning experience, it was time to move on. “I’ll be right down, okay?”

Again Benny nodded and he flew away. With a smile on his face, Andy closed the window again and went straight into the bathroom for a morning shower and to put on some of the clothes so neatly ironed by Sophia. He quickly combed his hair and tied it together behind his head, before making his way to the kitchen, where Sophia and George were already sitting at the breakfast table. Sophia stirred her coffee and George read a newspaper.

“Good morning,” Andy greeted them as he sat down and they returned the greeting. Sophia placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Andy took a slice of toast from the plate in the middle of the table. “I’m continuing my journey today,” he announced, buttering the toast as he looked at them.

“That’s a shame,” Sophia said. “It was nice having you around.”

The newspaper George held rustled as he turned a page. “Come now, Sophie,” George said, without looking up from the newspaper. “The lad is a trainer, they have to travel. It’ll take years before they settle down somewhere.” Now he lowered the newspaper and he winked at Andy. “Trust me, Andy. I know.” He folded the newspaper and placed it next to him on the table. “Do you know where you’re going?”

“I’ll just follow my nose,” Andy replied in between bites from the toast.

George nodded to that and he picked up his cup. “You’re going further south?” he inquired.

“Yes, that is the direction I’ve been heading so far.”

“If I could give some advice, you should head into Ilex Forest, there is a shrine there, dedicated to the forest’s protector.”

“I’ll be sure to check it out,” Andy promised.

“The next town is Azalea town, I recommend you go there,” George continued, glad he could share his knowledge with this young trainer, it reminded him of his own days as a trainer, many years ago. “A guy named Kurt lives there, he makes Poké Balls. And there is a Slowpoke Well there. It’s also known as the Rainmaker Well. Locals believe that a Slowpoke's yawn summons the rain and that a Slowpoke's yawn ended a drought about four hundred years ago.”

“Really?” Andy asked. “Now that sounds like an interesting town to visit. Azalea town it is then.”

“I’ll show you the route you should take on the map,” George promised. “But let’s finish breakfast first.”

“And I’ll help with the morning chores before I leave,” Andy said, feeling he owned the day-care couple at least that after the good care he received from them.

 They finished their breakfast and Andy and George went out to take care of the Pokémon in the day care. After that Andy collected his three Pokémon and told them they would be on their way. He returned each of them to their Poké Balls and went inside the house with George so he could collect his belongings. By the time he had gathered everything he owned, which wasn’t much as he had to carry it around in a backpack, he went downstairs again where George and Sophia were waiting for him.

“It has been great heaving you here,” Sophia said, handing him a package. “Here is something to eat for along the way. And I baked some cookies yesterday, take them with you as well.” She handed Andy a box with the cookies in them.

“You’re spoiling me,” Andy said with a grin. “But it’s impossible to say no to those cookies. Sorry George, I’m leaving you deprived of any.”

“Oh, don’t worry about George,” the old woman said. “I’ll bake some more this afternoon.”

Andy again thanked Sophia from the bottom of his heart, which, he added, is located real close to the stomach and she had taken very good care of that. He then turned to George and shook the old man’s hand.

“Take care of yourself, Andy,” George said. “If you’re ever in the neighbourhood again, do drop by.”

“I will,” Andy promised. “I have to take the magnet train back to Kanto anyway.”

He said his final goodbye’s and left the house, whistling a happy tune as he followed the road ahead.


	17. Inside the dark forest

Andy followed the advice George had given him and walked south, into Ilex Forest and on his way to Azalea Town. The trees in the forest grew close to one another, allowing only little sunshine on the ground under the trees. Never before had Andy seen a dark forest like this, but that didn't matter, as long as he didn’t run into a gingerbread house he figured he would be okay. It felt good to be on the road again after spending that time in the daycare, even though he had to admit that it had been a fantastic experience and the couple running it had been really friendly.

The forest was full of sounds, the moving of branches and leaves in the wind and the cries of wild Pokémon filled the forest. Other then that he didn’t see a living soul anywhere. Andy knew that when he got bored of walking alone he could always call his Pokémon to walk with him, but for now he enjoyed the tranquil stroll in the forest.

He raised his backpack a bit higher on the shoulders and stopped when he noticed a Paras who ran from one side of the road to the other. He didn’t attempt to catch it, there was little special about the Pokémon and he didn’t feel for some kind of wild chase between the trees. He wanted to continue his walk when he heard a voice behind him.

“My, my, travelling all by yourself?”

Andy turned around to see a woman with long red hair and a man with short purple hear standing on the road. The woman wore a short white skirt, long black boots, long black gloves and a short white shirt with a big red R on it. The man had white trousers and a white long-sleeved shirt, also with a big red R on it. Just as the woman he had black boots on his feet and gloves on his hands. A Meowth stood next to him on his hind legs.

“Indeed I am,” Andy said, offering them a confident grin. “I can see you aren’t.”

The woman chuckled. “No, indeed we aren’t. Tell me, boy, are you a Pokémon trainer?”

“The most talented one you’ll ever see.”

The man took over now. “So I take it you have some strong Pokémon,” he asked.

“Of course! Each of my Pokémon is awesome. Is this an invitation to a battle?”

Both the man and woman grinned and the woman looked at him as if she was looking at a price.

“You have no idea who you’re up against, do you?” The red-haired woman asked, with an almost genuine sweet voice. Almost.

“Should I?” Andy asked in turn.

“Allow us to introduce ourselves then.” She flung her read her over her shoulder and pointed at him, as did the man next to her.

 

_“Prepare for trouble”_

_“And make it double.”_

_“To Protect the world from devastation.”_

_“To Unite all peoples within our nation.”_

_“To denounce the evils of truth and love.”_

_“To extend our reach to the stars above”_

_“Jessie!”_

_“James!”_

 

A sigh from Andy was followed by a shrug. “And I’m Andy, is this going to take much longer?”

“SHUT UP!” both Jessie and James shouted, glaring viciously at him, as if he had committed a horrible crime. “We’re not finished,” Jessie added, still looking angry at him. “Now, where were we? Oh yeah.”

 

“ _Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light”_

_“Surrender now, or prepare to fight”_

_“MEOWTH, that's right!"_

 

“So,” Andy began, looking from one to the other, completely missing the fact that the Meowth had said ‘that’s right’, “do you always torture people like this? Forcing them to listen to that long-winded introduction? You could have just said your names and shake hands.” He showed a cocky grin. “But since we're introducing, I want to congratulate you with the best day of your life, seeing you have the fantastic honour of meeting the most awesome trainer around. Me.”

Jessie and James stared at him, but whether it was from surprise that he didn’t seem to be intimidated by them at all or that he seemed even more full of himself then they were, that was hard to tell.

“Hey you!” Jessie shouted to him, glaring angrily at him. “You are dealing with Team Rocket here, you little brat. So hand over your Pokémon.”

“And make it fast, pretty boy,” Meowth added.

Andy blinked and looked at the Meowth. “Did you just talk?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“That’s amazing.” Andy grabbed him from the ground and held him in front of his face. “Say something again.”

The Meowth started wriggling, flailing his arms and legs. “I don’t have to say a thing, you brat, just hand over your Pokémon!”

“Can you say ‘Andy is awesome’?” he asked, completely ignoring Meowths previous remark. "Come on, say 'Andy is awesome'!"

Meowth stared at him, but James grabbed the Meowth in his neck and pulled him from Andy’s hands. “If he’s going to say anything he might as well say James is awesome.”

“No, no, Jessie is awesome!” Jessie said to James.

“Ahh! I’m not going to say anything like that!” Meowth shouted, again flailing his arms and legs. “Just get his Pokémon already!”

“Right!” Jessie and James turned their attention back to Andy. “Hand over your Pokémon.”

Andy crossed his arms in front of his chest, examining the individuals in front of him “Sooo, you’re a kind of Pokémon thieves?” he asked them.

“That’s right,” James said. “We are members of Team Rocket.”

Andy looked at them and shrugged. He had never heard about any Team Rocket back on Rhando island, but they said it in a matter that clearly showed they expected him to know about them. “So, Team Rocket…I guess I stand no chance then?”

“Very true,” Jessie said and she extended her hand. “So just hand over your Pokémon and save yourself the embarrassment of we taking them from you.”

“Okay then,” Andy sighed, taking one Poké Ball from his pocket and enlarging it. “Here is the first.” He pushed on the button and a light came out of it. When the light faded away it revealed his Primeape. “This awesome Primeape here is Bear. Just one hint, don’t look him straight in the eyes. Primeape don’t like that.”

Every time someone says don’t do this or that, there are always people who will do just that. Think about a button that says ‘do not push’. How many will still push it out of curiosity? If you say to someone ‘you may not, absolutely not, think about a pink Phanpy’, what is the first image to appear in your head? Exactly that happened. Jessie and James stared at the Primeape in front of them and looked him straight in the eyes.

A heavier and nasal breathing sounded from Bear as his anger rose. Some bloodvessels on his forehead thickened and widened, showing the increase of blood pressure due to his anger.

“Primeee,” he growled ominously and both Jessie and James backed away a bit.

Normally Andy would say something in the lines of ‘don’t worry about it, Bear. They just stare at you because you’re awesome, you’ll better get used to it’ and usually saying that helps to calm his Primeape down. But Andy wasn’t going to say that now. “They want to steal you guys away from me,” he told his Primeape calmly. “You and Benny and Kim.”

“Primeape!” Bear shouted, glaring viciously at Team Rocket, taking a step in their direction, breathing heavy through his nose. Both Jessie and James did one step back.

“Oh, no, no, we wouldn’t dream of it, would we, James?”

“Oh no, of course not Jessie.”

“But he looks strong.”

They looked at each other, took their Poké Balls and threw them in the air. The Poké Balls opened and released the Pokémon inside. One moment later an Arbok and a Weezing were standing in front of Jessie and James.

“Leer,” Andy said and Bear aimed his vicious glare at both poison Pokémon, who backed away a bit under the glare.

“Poison sting, Arbok!” Jessie ordered and Arbok opened it’s mouth to release it’s white needles at the Primeape. “We’ll first defeat him and then take the other Pokémon as well.” The needles hit Bear, who’s eyes started to shine red. Whether it was the attack or the words Jessie spoke, but Bear went into rage.

“Oh boy,” Andy said when he noticed that. “This is going to take some time to cool him down again.” While he had expected his Primeape to get angry and teach these members of Team Rocket a lesson, he had wanted to avoid an actual age. With a thoughtful expression he put his hand in his pocket to search for the right Poké Ball as he watched Bear using his fury swipes on both the opposing Pokémon.

“Use tackle!” James ordered his Weezing

“Arbok, use bite!”

Both Pokémon executed their moves, but it only increased Bears rage, who low kicked both of them, followed by a new set of fury swipes.

With a calm expression on his face, Andy called his Butterfree to the field and told Benny he would need him later on. Benny nodded and remained flying next to Andy.

“Use wrap!” Jessie said and Arbok jumped forward, but Bear took it by it’s tale and started swinging it around as he used his seismic toss and released the Arbok in the direction of Jessie, James and Weezing. The body of the large snake hit them and they all fell on the ground. But the raging Primeape didn’t stop there, he jumped up and used more fury swipes. He paused only to let out a loud and ominous growl, but the pause was long enough for Jessie and James to get up and flee, with their Pokémon right behind them. Bear started to chase them and Andy started running as well.

“I feared that would happen. Benny! Use your sleeping powder on Bear.” Benny nodded and flew ahead of Andy, catching up with Bear. That reminded him he could have called Benny to the field instead and let him use his sleeping powder to let Team Rocket fall asleep and sneak away. That would have been a better idea then using Bear. Well, that was something to remember for the next time. He could see Benny had caught up with Bear and he unleashed his sleeping power. Bear slowed down until he fell down on the ground, fast asleep. Andy stopped next to Bear and looked around, but there was no sight of Team Rocket. He took Bears Poké Ball and returned him to it. “Well, that was interesting. But enough time wasted, let’s go-” Before Andy could finish his sentence something long and purple wrapped around him. “Ah crap,” Andy muttered, looking at the face of the Arbok above him, who was hissing at him. “Benny use…no, never mind, bad idea.” Sleeping powder would make him fall asleep as well.

From the bushes Jessie and James re-entered the scene.

“Well now,” Jessie said with a sickingly sweet voice. “You didn’t think you would get rid of us that easily, did you?”

“Well, of course I hoped for that,” Andy admitted, “but I’m not going to give up just yet if you don’t mind. I’m way to awesome to lose from you. Benny! Tackle this Arbok here.”

Benny tackled Arbok against his head, who released his muscle tension enough for Andy to free himself from the wrap and quickly take some distance again.

“Weezing, use smog!” James ordered and Weezing released a thick, black smog from his body.

Andy started coughing as the smog entered his lungs. “Benny, clear the air with gust.”

Benny flapped his wings and the gusts created with that cleared the air from the smog, but the Arbok came and wrapped himself around the Butterfree and squeezed.

Benny let out cries of pain.

“Use confusion!” Andy quickly instructed.

The eyes of Benny started glowing light blue and a similar light was seen around Arbok, who tried to fight of the invisible force. With the confusion Benny managed to free himself from the wrap and he flew up and went to Andy.

“I’m getting tired of this. Whirlwind. And make it a strong one, will you?”

Benny nodded and flapped his wings as hard as he could. The gust created from it made the trees and bushes around shake violently and lose their leaves. Team Rocket and their Pokémon tried to stand their ground, but soon after were picked up by the wind and blown into the sky, along with all the ripped of leaves. He could here them shout ‘Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!’ as they flew through the air.

“Whatever,” Andy sighed, turning around. “Come Benny, let’s head to Azalea Town.”

The Butterfree nodded and followed Andy, who continued the walk through the forests with his hands in his pockets, whistling a tune as if nothing had happened.


	18. Seriously?

With Benny flying close to him, Andy continued his walk through the forest. They had seen the shrine mentioned by the old day-care man and had rested there for a moment. Andy had found the place to be serene, so he had taken his time to sit down and relax for a bit, with his Butterfree in his lap. After that he had continued his walk towards Azalea town, curious to meet this Kurt guy the old day-care man had talked about. Apparently a Poké Ball maker. Mighty interesting. And that Slowpoke Well George had talked about, he’d love to see that as well.

“We’ll soon be there,” Andy said to Benny, even though he had no clue how far away the city was from where they were, or where they were in the forest exactly. To say he was lost was exaggerated of course, awesome trainers like Andy don’t get lost. They make a slight detours to enjoy the surroundings and observe Pokémon in their natural habitat. That’s all. Andy talked to Benny, explaining how excellent he was as a trainer and how many victories they both would have. Benny just flew next to him silently, letting him talk and boast and nodded occasionally. Andy was in the middle of explaining how he planned to win a league or two when he heard a deprecatory sounds coming from the trees. He looked up to see a Hoothoot sitting on a branch and looking at him. “What, you disagree?” he asked the Hoothoot.

The Hoothoot gave him a look as if to say ‘wasn’t that obvious, oh featherless one?’

The eyebrows of Andy rose a bit, but soon a grin appeared on his face. “Do you think you know it better them me?” he asked.

“Hoot,” the Pokémon simply replied, calmly readjusting some feathers under his wing.

Andy leaned a bit to Benny, who came flying closer to hear what Andy had to say. “This Pokémon over here,” he said softly, but he made sure to still speak loud enough for the Hoothoot to hear it, “he seems to disagree with me.”

Benny nodded.

“He looks awfully serious.”

Again Benny nodded.

“And he seems to think he knows things better then me. If I’m not mistaken he even seems a bit... conceited.”

For the third time Benny nodded.

“I want him in my team.”

“Free.”

The Hoothoot let out a sigh, turned around and flew away.

“Benny, go after him and tackle him!”

Benny quickly flew away, caught up with the Hoothoot and tackled him in the air. The Hoothoot flapped irregular with his wings to stay in the air and retaliated with a tackle of his own.

“Use your gust!”

With his wings, Benny created a gust of wind that hit the Hoothoot. After this the Hoothoot came flying to Benny, pecking his head with his beak.

“Hang in there, Benny! Use your confusion!”

The eyes of Benny started glowing and a blue aura surrounded the Hoothoot, who got slammed into a tree. The Hoothoot quickly recovered and his eyes started to shiny yellow, but Benny was able to tackle him before the hypnosis took affect.

“Tackle him again,” Andy said and Benny went towards the Hoothoot again.

Andy took a Poké Ball, his eyes focused on the Hoothoot he wanted to catch. He would wait for the right moment.

 Benny landed a tackle and the Hoothoot was pushed back in the air.

 "Now!" With all his might Andy threw the Poké Ball to the Hoothoot. And missed. The ball flew past the Hoothoot, who didn't even have to try and evade it, and hit a tree instead. With a silent cracking sound the Poké Ball broke and fell on the ground. "Damn," he muttered when he saw it happen.

 Benny started laughing and tumbled down from the sky. The last few feet above the ground he flapped his white wings for a soft landing and on the ground he fell on his back, still laughing.

 "Don't laugh," Andy told him, but that didn't help. It didn't make the Butterfree stop laughing. "Maybe I wanted to hit that tree, did you consider that?" Andy asked with a grin.

The Hoothoot flapped his wings to stay in the air, shaking his head and he turned around to fly away.

“Not so fast you! Benny, after him!”

Benny, who was still laughing softly, flapped his wings and went after the Hoothoot.

“Use your gust to knock him out of the air.”

Benny did as he was being told and the gust took hold of the flying Pokémon and made him slam in the ground.

“Alright, second try!” Andy said enthusiastically and he threw another Poké Ball at the Hoothoot. This time he managed to hit the Pokémon with it. The red and white ball opened and dragged the Hoothoot in.

The Poké Ball lay on the ground, rocking back and forth and the light in the button was going on and off, until the light finally died out and the ball stopped moving.

“Yes! Did I tell you how awesome I am?” he asked his Butterfree, who agreed with that with a nod. “But you agree, right?” Benny chuckled and nodded again. “Great! That’s what I wanted to hear.” Andy walked over to the Poké Ball and picked it up. He looked at it with a smile on his face. “Welcome to my team.” This Hoothoot seemed like a nice addition, although it looked really serious. The smile turned to a grin. He would have a great time with this Pokémon.

 


	19. Furret’s first fight (and Hoothoot’s too)

Andy was still in Ilian Forest, sitting under a tree. He ate some of the sandwiches Sophia had prepared for him as he looked at his four Pokémon, who were sharing some home-cooked Pokémon food from the daycare. He had called them all from their Poké Balls for a lunch and so that they could get to know the latest addition to the team. Kim, his Furret, sat next to Bear, his Primeape and they both listened to Benny, his Butterfree, who was talking to the Hoothoot, who he had decided to call Merlin. At one point both Benny and Bear laughed, Kim had a shy smile and seemed uncertain if it was okay to laugh and Merlin looked at Andy with a tilted head.

“Hey, Benny,” Andy said. “Don’t tell too many embarrassing stories about me, alright?”

“Free!” The Butterfree replied, but whether that was an ‘Okay!’ or ‘I will tell them whatever I want, because you can’t understand me anyway!’ was impossible to tell, although Andy assumed it to be the first option.

Now Bear started talking and he puffed up his chest as he was probably boasting about something. Andy chuckled, either Bear and he were more alike then he had first thought when he had met him, or some of his good qualities had rubbed off on his Pokémon. Of course he didn’t have any bad qualities.

After a while, when everyone was done eating, Andy returned everyone except for Kim to their Poké Balls. He wasn’t in the mood to walk alone and he felt like keeping the Furret with him.

The Furret seemed to enjoy the stroll. She sniffed around and run ahead, only to come back and walk next to Andy for a while, until something caught her attention again. Andy enjoyed watching her like that, it was nice to see how she had opened up to him.

They walked like that for a while when a boy appeared from between the trees. The boy first looked at Kim, and then at Andy who had stopped walking and examined the boy curiously. Kim backed away until she was behind Andy, where she sat with her tail wrapped around her body and shyly peeking from behind his legs to the boy.

“Are you a trainer?” the boy asked.

“I sure am. The name is Andy.”

The boy nodded and came closer. “I’m Rick. Would you be up for a battle? I’m going to challenge the gym leader in Goldenrod City and I would like to practise some more.”

“Sure thing!” Andy was excited, as he always was at the prospect of showing his skills.

Rick took a Poké Ball from his belt and held it in his hand as he looked at Andy. “Shall we each use two Pokémon?”

After a nod from Andy, Rick called his first Pokémon to the field. A Croconow.

“Alright Kim, are you up for it?” Andy asked his Furret, but Kim shook her head and made sure to stay behind Andy. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but directly after showed a smile. “You don’t have to fight if you don’t want to, princess. Let’s see, who shall I pick then.” He took one of his Poké Balls and nodded to himself. “Alright Merlin! Come to the field!”

The Hoothoot came from his Poké Ball and looked at the Croconow in front of him.

“Are you ready for your first battle?” Andy asked. Merlin looked back at Andy and calmly flapped with his wings to fly up and sit on a branch in a nearby tree.

“Oh come on!” Andy exclaimed. “Why don’t you want to fight?”

“Hoothoot,” Merlin said and he started to rearrange the feathers on his chest.

Andy let out a sigh and rubbed his face with a hand.

“That counts as one Pokémon,” Rick said. “You called him to battle.”

“I know,” Andy sighed. He glanced at his Hoothoot and shrugged. If Merlin didn’t want to battle, he’d pick one that was always eager to fight. He called his Primeape to the field, who let everyone know he had arrived by a loud cry and started some stretching exercises. Andy smiled as he watched his Primeape, who was obviously ready to battle.

“Alright Bear, start with your low kick!”

The battle started and Andy noticed the Croconow was well trained, but so was his Primeape. From behind his legs Kim watched, letting out a concerned noise when Bear was hit by a water gun, but Andy reassured her that he was used to battling. From high up on the tree branch Merlin also watched the fight with some interest.

Bear managed to defeat the Croconow and made a little victory dance as Rick returned the Croconow to his Poké Ball. He then called his second Pokémon to the field, an Ekans. The Ekans hissed at Bear, who growled in response.

“I’d say they’re ready,” Andy said cheerfully and ordered his Primeape to use his Seismic toss.

From high up in the tree Merlin was still watching the battle.

Bear was doing a good job, but this was his second battle and the first one hadn’t been an easy victory. At one point in the battle the Ekans used a Poison sting and the attack was too much for Bear to take and he fell on the ground.

Andy returned him to his Poké Ball. “You were awesome Bear. Have some rest now.” After putting his Poké Ball away Andy looked up to Rick.

Rick showed a smirk. “Well, it seems I won. It was…”

“Hoothoot!” Merlin interrupted Rick as he came flying down and landed on Andy’s shoulder. Andy looked at him, the surprised look on his face quickly changed to a smile. “Merlin, you’re ready to fight now?”

Merlin nodded.

“You wanted to see how I do as trainer first?”

The Hoothoot nodded for a second time.

“And now you’ve decided I’m a skilled enough trainer to battle for.”

“Hoot.”

“Well, I am honoured that you in your infinite wisdom decided I am good enough to battle for.”

Merlin let out a small sigh and flew to the field.

Andy chuckled softly and pointed to his Hoothoot. “The first Pokémon I called to the field isn’t defeated yet. It seems you haven’t won just yet.”

“So it seems,” Rick said. “But that’s just a matter of time! Ekans, use your Poison sting!”

The Ekans unleashed his white needles at the Hoothoot, who was hit by them and flapped his wings as they stung his chest.

“Use Peck!” Andy ordered and Merlin flew down, using his beak to peck on the head of Ekans, who retaliated with a bite attack.

Then Merlins eyes started to glow light blue and the same colour surrounded Ekans, who tried to break free, but failed.

“Hoot. Hoot.” With his mind Merlin lifted the Ekans from the ground and slammed him in the ground. Andy looked at it, confusion was always a fascinating move to see and now he had two Pokémon who could use it.

“Tackle!”

Merlin nodded and flew to the recovering Ekans. He tackled him and for a second time Ekans tried to Bite him, but Merlin was able to evade it and used his peck instead. Then Ekans was able to wrap his body around Merlin and squeezed.

“Don’t give up! Use your Hypnosys.”

“H-hoot,” Merlin replied and his eyes started to glow yellow. He looked intensely at the Ekans, who’s eyes started to close and the wrap lost it’s strength as he fell asleep. Merlin flew away from the sleeping snake and landed not to far from him in the grass, tilting his head as he looked at him.

“Come on Ekans, wake up!” Rick shouted.

Andy stretched his arms and put his hands behind his head as he watched Rick calling to his Pokémon to get him to wake up. Merlin didn’t give Rick any noticed and stretched one of his wings to work on his feathers.

Rick let out a sigh and took his Poké Ball. “He’s not waking up, I guess you win.”

“Well done Merlin! You are fantastic!”

Merlin looked at him as if he wanted to say ‘you just now realized that?’ and Andy started laughing. He liked his newest addition to his team more and more.

During the entire battle Kim had been hiding behind Andy, making herself as small as possible. It wasn’t until Rick and Andy had shaken hands and Rick was on his way again that she relaxed again. Andy scratched her head with a smile, she really was shy, but Andy didn’t mind, he enjoyed having her in his team. When they were just with the five of them, she had shown herself to be a caring Pokémon and she got along just fine with Benny, Bear and Merlin. For some reason she seemed to stick close to Bear a lot.

They continued their walk to Azalea town. Just to be certain he had asked Rick if he was going in the right direction. The forest was nice and all, but he did want to get to the city eventually. Just like before Rick had found them, Kim seemed to enjoy the walk and stopped to sniff a berry bush, before eating some of the small, red berries. Andy waited patiently for her to finish her quick snack. She even plucked some berries for him and he accepted them, thanking her for the treat.

Andy was just eating the last berry when a voice came from behind.

“Hand over your money.”

Kim jumped up and ran behind Andy, who turned around to see who was asking for his money. From behind him Kim looked carefully at the stranger.

“Why would I?” Andy asked him. “It’s mine.” The man in front of him had a red scarf around his face to keep it hidden. Some kind of thief, Andy wasn’t impressed. His hand went into his pocket, any of his Pokémon were more then capable of dealing with the man.

“Let me rephrase that,” the thief said with an impatient undertone in his voice. “Your money or your life.”

“I’d rather hold on to both if you don’t mind.”

“I mind.” The man took a small knife from his pocket. “Now, if you don’t want lose your life I suggest you-“

“Furret!” Kim shouted and she came from behind Andy and ran with high speed up to the man, using her quick attack on him. The man fell on the ground and looked angrily at the Furret. He lashed out with his knife, but Kim jumped back and stood on her hind legs when her body glowed white and she made several copies of herself. The man looked confused at all the Furrest around him and lashed out a random one, but went right through it.

“Nice work princess!” Andy said. “Use your quick attack again!”

Kim got down on all four legs and ran up to the man in high speed, knocking him down again. The thief scrambled back on his feet and ran off.

“Furret! Furret, fur!” Kim shouted after him, standing on her hind legs and a grinning Andy walked up to her. He scratched her head as he watched the fleeing man.

“I see that with you around I have nothing to worry about. You were amazing, Kim.”

Kim looked away shyly.

“Don’t be shy, you deserved that praise. Come, let’s go to Azalea Town. I long for a hot bath.”

“Furret,” Kim said, nodding and she got down on her four legs again to continue the path next to Andy.


	20. Azalea Town and other noteworthy events

Andy’s travel finally brought him to Azelea Town, where the first thing he noticed was how many Slowpoke there were in the streets. He recalled George had said something about Slowpoke being important for the town, but he hadn’t expected to see that many. So he asked one of the older townsmen who was sitting on a bench in the park what that was about, and the man told him about how a Slowpoke’s yawn ended a drought in this very town 400 years ago. The man showed Andy the Slowpoke Well, something he had already heard about, but it was nice to see it for real. After that Andy asked where Kurt the Poké Ball smith lived and the man told Andy where he had to be. Of course it was a house he had passed on his way to the center of the village, so he turned back to the house located near the forest he had been travelling through.

 Once he had found the house he rang the doorbell and a young girl opened the door. She had her brown hair in two tails on either side of her head and she looked at Andy curiously.

“Hello,” Andy greeted her. “I’m looking for Kurt.”

The girl nodded and turned her head. “Grandpa! Someone is here for you.” After that she turned back to Andy. “He’ll be here soon,” she said to him with an adorable smile.

And sure enough, an old man appeared in the entrance of the house. “Yes?” the man, of which Andy thought it had to be Kurt, asked.

“I’m Andy,” Andy introduced himself. “A Pokémon trainer. I spend a while at the daycare of George and Sophia just outside Goldenrod city and he mentioned you.”

“I see, how is George?”

And with that a conversation started. Kurt invited Andy inside as they talked about George and Andy’s travel so far. Upon request, he showed Andy his tools and how he made a Poké Ball from an apricorn. At one point, Andy showed Kurt his cracked Poké Ball, the one he had used in his first attempt to catch his Hoothoot. The old man just looked at it silently for a moment before he looked up. “What happened with it?” he asked.

“I tried to catch a Hoothoot and hit a tree instead,” Andy explained with a shrug.

“So the Hoothoot evaded,” concluded Kurt as he took the cracked Poké Ball to inspect it more closely.

Andy grinned. “Nope, I just missed and hit a tree instead.”

For a moment Kurt was silent, but then he burst out in laughter. “Next time tell people you mistook a tree for a Sudowoodo!”

“Good idea!” Andy said, hitting his hand with his fist. “That I didn’t think of that. It will be my story from now on!”

Kurt examined Andy for a moment and shook his head with a smile on his face. “No, I think you’re going to stick with the truth. You don’t seem ashamed of it.”

“I’m not.” Andy shrugged as he said that. “I missed, it’s not a big deal. But you should have seen my Butterfree, he was laughing so hard he came tumbling down from the sky. I think it was the funniest thing he had seen in ages. He still laughs every time he sees this Poké Ball.”

“Do you even want it repaired?” Kurt then asked.

“Actually...no. This will be a great memory for later. I can already see children sitting on my knee asking me to tell how I caught Merlin and I will tell them how heroically I entered the battle with Benny and how I threw the Poké Ball and how it slammed against a tree instead of hitting Merlin. It will be a great story to tell.”

Kurt laughed and continued working on the apricorn that was lying in front of him.

 Andy remained with Kurt and his granddaughter Maisy for a couple of days. Kurt shared his knowledge about Poké Balls with him and Andy let his Furret and Butterfree play with Maisy and her Slowpoke. For some reason she was quite fond of the pink Pokémon, Andy couldn’t really see why, it seemed like a dull Pokémon to him, but to each his or her own. If everyone liked the same Pokémon, battles would be boring rather quickly. While he was there, Andy told Maisy stories, the story about Benny’s evolution quickly became her favorite. It was the first time for the other three Pokémon of Andy to hear it as well and Benny could only confirm what Andy had told Maisy. And when he told Maisy about his attempt to catch Merlin she giggled.

 While he stayed in Azelea town, Andy decided to challenge the gym leader Bugsy, who had bug-type Pokémon. During the first round Andy had called his Butterfree to battle Bugsy’s Spinarak. Towards the end of the battle the Spinarak had been able to prevent Benny from flying with a well-aimed string-shot, but while he was covered with the sticky substance, Benny was able to finish the battle with a confusion attack. As second Pokémon Bugsy called forth a Metapod. Andy returned Benny and replaced him with his Hoothoot. With the type advantage, it wasn’t a though battle. The tough battle followed when Bugsy called on his Scyther. When Andy asked if Merlin thought he was up for it, the Hoothoot gave him a look that said ‘why are you doubting me, of course I’m up for it’ much to Andy’s amusement. Even with the type advantage, it was a tough battle. In the end Merlin managed to win by using his Echoed Voice for the first time and when the Scyther lay unconscious in the grass, Merlin was surrounded by a white glow and he evolved from a Hoothoot into a Noctowl.

 After receiving the badge, Andy continued his travel through the Johto region. And, amongst other locations, he visited the Sprout Tower and the Ruins of Alph. While he was in the Ruins of Alph, Andy decided he wanted to visit his older brother, who was attending a university in the Kanto region. His brother had a fascination for history and was striving to be a Pokémon archaeologist. Something Andy wasn’t all that interested in, but as he was standing in the Ruins he recalled his brother had mentioned a field trip to this very location. As he was thinking about his brother and since he didn’t have any real plans, he decided he might as well travel back to Kanto to visit him. A second attempt really, he had tried to visit his brother when he was in the region, but he had arrived at the university when his brother was at this location, so he had continued to Mt. Moon instead.

 After checking his map, Andy decided he’d travel over Mount Silver back to the Kanto region. The bullet train, even if it was fast, was boring. And he’d be closer to the university if he’d go over the mountain. Of course he could go through the cave system of the mountain, but a cave was a cave and he already had been inside Mount Moon. He really didn’t care that much for caves, unlike his brother. So, the decision was easy, he’d travel to Mount Silver and go over it to Kanto.

 To reach Mount Silver, Andy had to travel through New Bark Town, where he met with both professor Elm, who owned a lab there, and professor Oak, who was visiting the place. He told both professors where he was from. Professor Oak recalled professor Maple was in charge there for guiding beginning trainers there and asked how she was. Andy spent the remainder of the day in New Bark Town and he became more and more interested in the work these Pokémon professors did. But first things first, he wanted to visit his brother, so the next day he continued his travel to Mount Silver, feeling excited about this travel over the mountain.


	21. Caught in a blizzard

A figure could be seen trudging through the snow. The howling wind made the snow fly through the air almost horizontally. Dressed in a long, brown coat, Andy briefly looked up, before pulling his shoulders up again and putting his arms more tightly around his chest, keeping his hands in his armpits. “Who’s bright idea was it to go over the mountains instead of around?” Andy grumbled to himself. “Seriously, this will be the last time I’ll do this. I don’t care how long it’ll take, the next time I’m walking trough it, around it or use some kind of transportation.” Cursing some more, mainly at the weather, Andy was going forward, just going one step at the time. He had pulled the brown cap of the coat over his head, to keep him warm and his hair dry. A layer of snow was building up on his back, camouflaging the brown colour of the fabric under it’s own white colour.

He couldn’t help but think about Henry and how he was doing. Surely Henry would be in a better position then he was. He also thought about his home on Rhando Island. The only high place on the islands was a volcano, nothing like the ice and wind he had encountered on this mountain. Even though it was cold and wet up here, there was no way he would turn back. No-one ever accomplished anything by going back. Besides, he was already more then half way, or at least he should be. It was difficult to tell with the blizzard and all. Andy decided that turning back would only make the travel longer, so he wouldn’t do that.

 As suddenly as the blizzard had begun it died out again. Andy blinked, surprised by this sudden but very welcome change. He straightened his back, brushed the snow from his shoulders and moved on with renewed energy. There was no sign of life around here, if there had been any tracks they were covered under a new layer of snow. It was almost a shame to walk through the smooth layer of snow and leave a set of footprints, but it was cold enough to not feel guilty about that for more then a few seconds. As he walked he looked up at the sky to see that the grey clouds were still in the air, but on a few places in the sky sunlight was peering through the clouds. A very welcome sight and it lifted his spirit even more. He took his time to admire the landscape now, the grey rocks covered by snow. “This is really something. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all,” Andy said to himself, as there was no-one else around who could hear him. Sure, it was cold, his breath was visible with every exhale, but the rough grey and white terrain was a spectacular sight.

He looked up again and stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth fell open and he stared at the clouds. A ray of sunlight shone through an opening in the clouds and illuminated a blue bird with a long blue tail. Articuno. There was no doubt, Andy was sure this was the legendary icebird. With trembling hands from excitement Andy grabbed his camera and quickly took a few pictures. Then he realised something else and he took his Poké Balls. “Guys, you’ve got to see this!”

Seconds later his four Pokémon were standing in the snow. His Primeape, Furret, Noctowl and Butterfree were looking around to see what there was to see. His Butterfree shivered and Andy partly unzipped his jacket. “Come here, Benny.” The other three had protection from the could with their fur and feathers, Benny had no such protection. Benny flew to Andy and nestled in his half open jacket. Then Andy pointed to the sky. “Look over there, it’s Articuno.”

They all looked in the direction Andy was pointing and silently observed the flying Pokémon calmly fly away.

“Free,” Benny sighed and Andy smiled. He remembered how he had been bragging he’d capture Articuno during a picnic with Henry, just moments before he noticed a certain Caterpie eating from his honey sandwich. And Benny had been with him ever since. “Alright,” he said after a while. “I’ll better move along. You’ll better go back into your Poké Balls.

Benny nodded as he shivered slightly, but Kim shook her head, holding on to his legs.

“You want to stay out? Alright. Bear? Merlin? Do you want to stay out as well?”

They both shook their heads and Andy dug up the three Poké Balls to return them one at the time. When he put the Poké Balls safely away again he looked down at his Furret and winked. “Now it’s just you and me, princess. Let’s go, I’m getting mighty cold up here.”

Kim lightly walked next to him on all four legs, glad to be out. She made big steps, struggling a bit with the snow, but she managed.

They walked for another hour through the snowy landscape when another blizzard caught them by surprise. Andy raised his arm to shield his face from the snow and Kim moved her head to the right to shield a part of her face from the snow. “You’ll better go into your Poké Ball now,” Andy said, but Kim shook her head. “This is no time to be hard headed, we’re in a blizzard. Go back in your Poké Ball.” He held it in his hand and aimed it at his Furret. Again Kim shook her head and Andy let out a sigh, dropping the Poké Ball. “Alright, fine. If you prefer to struggle in the snow with me you can, but if I see this is taking you too much trouble you will go in your Poké Ball. Understood?” Kim nodded and continued to walk, she kept her head low to the ground and narrowed her eyes a bit to deal with the snow that was falling down and the wind that howled around them. Together they struggled forward through the snow. In a way it was comforting he wasn’t alone, but another part of him was worried about his Pokémon. Still, Andy had to admit she was doing well.

 Time passed by and Andy walked on, but the exhaustion and cold caught up with him. He struggled to keep standing on his feet in the wind and snow, but was unable to keep going and fell on his knees. Kim turned around and let out worried noises when she noticed Andy sitting in the snow like that. Andy could hear her, but the sounds seemed to come from far. He fell forward in the snow, exhausted. Kim jumped forward and stood next to him, shaking him with her paws while calling him. As her fear for Andy’s situation grew, her voice got louder and higher. She cried out for help, but her voice disappeared in the howling wind around them. She cried out again, as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear her. As she cried for help the third time a figure appeared in the blizzard. The shade of two wings and a body appeared and it came closer, until finally Articuno landed. The ice-bird had little trouble flying through the blizzard and landed close to Andy, standing majestically, and looked down at the Furret and Human.

As soon as Articuno had landed, Kim had jumped up to hide behind Andy. Now, she carefully looked at the blue bird from behind him.

_“Why are you calling for help?”_ Articuno asked majestically, keeping his head up as he spoke.

_“I-it’s Andy. H-he just c-collapesed,”_ Kim stuttered, looking cautiously up at the legendary bird-pokémon. _“Please help me, I-I don’t know what to do.”_

Articuno’s eyes focused on the motionless Andy, who was lying with his eyes closed in the snow. _“And what makes this human so special that he must be saved?”_

_“Because he has always been good fur us!”_ Kim said as she put her paws on Andy’s back, forgetting about her earlier fear for the legendary Pokémon. _“He’s kind and sweet, he took care of me when I was injured. Please, oh please just help him!”_

The Articuno, standing tall and majestically, slowly spread his wings, lifted his head and opened his beak to let out a loud and penetrating cry, a call carried by the wind of the blizzard. 

 

In a cave nearby several Jinx were sitting together when they heard the cry.

_“That is Articuno,”_ one of them said. _“We must go and help.”_

One after another the Jinx left the cave and walked through the blizzard, guided to the place where Andy was lying by Articuno’s cries.

 When the Jinx appeared at the scene Articuno looked at them with a slightly tilted head. _“Take care of them,”_ he commanded. He spread his wings and flew up. The Jinx quickly gathered around Andy as the Articuno flew away.

_“Oh my, he’s exhausted.”_

_“And cold.”_

_“Let’s bring him to our cave.”_

Several Jinx picked the unconscious Andy up from the snow and carried him away to their cave. A worried Kim walked next to them, looking worriedly in Andy’s direction.

_“Will he be alright?”_ Kim asked. _“Please tell me he’ll be alright.”_

_“Don’t worry,”_ one of the Jinx said with a warm, motherly voice. _“Your friend will be alright.”_

 

The Jinx walked back to their cave with Andy and Kim followed them. In the entrance she shook her fur to rid it of the snow, before rushing in and hurrying to Andy, who was laid down on some dry hay by the Jinx. She sniffed his pale face and touched his cheek with her paw.

_“He feels so cold!”_ she exclaimed.

_“Don’t worry, we’ll get him warm soon enough.”_ None of the Jinx seemed to worry. One of them started a fire close to Andy, two others removed his jacket and a forth one came with a blanket and wrapped him in it with one of the other Jinx, as one of them walked away with his jacket. Kim watched the Jinx work and then turned her attention to the pockets of Andy’s trousers. She took the Poké Balls of Benny, Bear and Merlin out, placed them on the ground and tapped each of them with her paw. _“Come out quickly!”_

Seconds later the three Pokémon stood on the cavern floor and looked around.

_“What’s wrong, Kim?”_ Merlin asked calmly, but as soon as the sentence was finished, Benny had already spotted Andy.

_“Oh no! Andy!”_ He flew up and landed on Andy’s chest, looking worried at his wet hair, pale skin and closed eyes. _“What happened?”_

_“He suddenly collapsed while walking and Articuno came and then these Jinx came and-”_

_“Calm down,”_ Merlin interrupted Kim. _“Start from the beginning, but slowly.”_

Kim took in a deep breath and told the others what had happened, how Andy collapsed in the snow, how she called for help and that Articuno had come, how he had warned the Jinx, who had brought Andy to the cave they were now.

_“That fool,”_ Merlin sighed. _“Why did he choose that route? Does he ever think before he acts?”_

_“You only say that because you’re worried,”_ Benny said. _“It was bad luck, I’m sure that if the blizzard hadn’t come he would have made it across.”_

Bear rolled his eyes. _“Why are you looking so worried?”_ he asked the others. _“He just needs some rest and he’ll be fine. He’s way to awesome to let something trivial as a blizzard stop him.”_

Merlin looked in Bear’s direction _. “Your misplaced optimism won’t help. This is a very serious situation.”_

_“You’re just too pessimistic,”_ Bear retorted.

_“He’ll be fine,”_ Benny said determined, looking at the Primeape and Noctowl.

_“That, he will,”_ one of the Jinx said, coming closer with a pillow in her hands. _“Don’t worry, give him some time to rest and get warm.”_ She gently placed the pillow under Andy’s head and turned to the four Pokémon. _“Now, who’s up for some soup? We learned to make it from a Human who lives a couple miles away.”_

_“It’s not the first time we’ve taken care of people or Pokémon who get lost in a blizzard,”_ another Jinx added.

 

Meanwhile, Articuno landed in front of a wooden house and called the owner inside.

Inside, a broad man with black curled hair and a black beard was standing next to his stove, adding some more coal to it to keep the fire burning. He looked up when he heard the cry and rushed through the living room to open the door.

There he stared at Articuno. “What…”

Articuno drew with his claw a cave, a Jinx and a Human in the snow.

“There is a Human with the Jynx in need of help?”

Articuno nodded and flew away.

“Articuno, wait!”

It was no use, Articuno left. The man, who's name was Boris, returned in his house, put some supplies in a backpack, grabbed a coat and a walking stick and left the house. He looked at the sky with an elevated arm to shield his face from the elements. “The blizzard will die out soon,” he muttered to himself. Boris started walking towards the cave, making slow progress at first because of the blizzard, but as he had predicted the blizzard died out soon after and he picked up the pace.

 

After a while, Andy slowly woke up. First he opened his eyes, trying to figure out where he was, how he got there and what had happened. The last thing he recalled was feeling unbelievably cold and tired. Slowly he got in an upright position, the blanket slipped down and into his lap. He didn’t have time to look around, white and brown fur rushed to him, jumped up and landing on his lap, nudging his face.

“Furret, furret, furret, furret, furret,” Kim said, just rubbing her face against his cheek.

“I made you worried, didn’t I, princess?” Andy said, smiling softly as he gently stroke her fur. “Sorry about that.”

“Freeee!” Benny said, flying towards him and landing against his chest, where Andy put an arm around him.

“And you too? I’m alright now.”

Next Merlin landed next to him and Bear was standing next to Merlin. Merlin tilted his head slightly and examined him. Bear was enthusiastically hopping from one leg to the other and when he finally stopped his raised his arms in the sky, his equivalent of a thumbs up. Andy grinned and put his thumb up to show he was alright. Then he noticed the Jinx who were standing a bit further, one of them came towards him with a bowl of soup.

“Ah, that smells delicious…Kim, try not to rub a hole in my cheek, will you?” Andy said with a smile to his Furret.

“Jynx, jynx,” the Jynx calmly said and both Benny and Kim took some distance, so Andy had his arms free for the soup.

“Thank you.” Andy took the soup from the Jynx and held it in his hands for a moment, enjoying the warm feeling it gave. After bringing a spoonful of soup to his mouth he turned to the Jynx. “Delicious! You sure know how to take care of a traveller.”

After he finished his soup Andy lay down again. Kim came lying next to him, resting her head on his chest. Bear came sitting on the other side, firmly patting his shoulder. A Jynx came closer to put the blanket properly and carefully lifted his head to reposition the pillow.

“Ah, the service of a four-star hotel,” Andy sighed.

“Five-star,” a voice coming from the entrance of the cave said and Andy looked up.

“Five-star, of course. Sorry ladies, I didn’t mean to derogate your excellent service.”

The man walked into the cave, after kicking some snow from his boots. He walked towards Andy and Kim jumped up to hide behind Bear, who was glaring at the newcomer and let out a low growl.

Boris raised his hands. “Don’t worry, I’m just here to help.”

The expression Bear had on his face changed to a happy one and he nodded. Andy shook his head, smiling a bit and looked at the black-haired man in front of him.

“I’m Boris. Articuno came to let me know you were here.”

“Seriously? Articuno came to you? That’s amazing!”

“Don’t think I have some kind of bond with Articuno,” Boris said with a smile. “Today was the third time in my life I’ve seen him, the last time was over three years ago. The encounters never last longer then a minute. The Jynx here are another story, I’ve spent many hours in this cave with them, hiding for a storm or just to see of they’re alright.” Boris sat down on the cave floor, placing his walking stick next to him. “Usually one of them comes to me if they have a stranded traveller, but with the blizzard Articuno apparently decided to get me himself. Now, that’s about me. How about you? How did you get here?”

“I have no idea,” Andy said, almost cheerfully. “I was unconscious. Walking in a blizzard is tougher then you might think.”

Boris laughed. “Oh, I know all about that. The first time I met these lovely ladies was in a storm much like today, although snow did come early this year. Anyway, I was barely conscious when I noticed figures approach. The picked me up and the next thing I remember is waking up in this cave.”

Andy nodded and looked at his Furret. “Well, I had Kim out, so I suppose she either looked for help…” Kim shook her head. “She... called for help?” Kim nodded. “And then the Jynx came?” Kim shook her head and Merlin spread his wings. Andy looked at that gesture with a frown. “Articuno then?” he guessed, as Boris had mentioned Articuno as well. Kim nodded to show he was correct. “Wow,” Andy muttered, it was a shame he had missed that. “And after that the Jynx came and they brought me here,” Andy concluded and Kim confirmed the last part with a nod of her head.

Boris looked at Andy and nodded slowly. “If you feel well enough to walk again, you can come over to my house and spent the night there. You can continue your journey in the morning.”

“And miss out on the fine treatment of these beautiful ladies?” Andy asked, pointing towards the Jinx who seemed to enjoy the flattering.

“I have bacon and eggs,” Boris said with a grin.

Andy blinked, looked at Boris and got up. “Ladies, it was lovely meeting you, the soup was delicious, the treatment superb, but I really should be going. This man had found a way to my heart. And with that I mean stomach. Although I think he’s just jealous.”

Boris burst out in laughter and shook his head. “If you can joke like that, you’re fine. Let’s go then.”

Andy nodded and took his jacket from one of the Jynx, thanked her for the jacket and the good care and put it on, followed by his backpack.

 They all left the cave, Boris, Andy, his four Pokémon and the Jynx, but outside both Andy and Boris stopped. Just a few feet away was Articuno, standing in the snow. Articuno silently looked at Andy, who was in awe by seeing the majestic bird standing so close to him and couldn't do anything else but stare at it.

Benny flew towards Andy, made a few sounds and landed on his backpack, which he unzipped to take out the camera.

“Oh, good idea, Benny.” Andy took the camera, hoping the ice-bird wouldn’t fly away. Surprisingly it stayed where it was and Andy took some pictures. When that was done Andy lowered his camera and showed Articuno a grin. “I heard I have you to thank for my rescue. So thanks. I really appreciate it.”

Articuno nodded slightly, barely noticeable, but it was a nod. Then the took off and Boris and Andy watched Articuno fly away. Kim came standing next to Andy and waved, shouting something to Articuno. A short reply could be heard from high up in the sky.

“You gave him your thanks as well?” Andy asked his Furret, who nodded. “I’m glad you were with me, but you’re all going back in your Poké Balls now. I have Boris to look after me.”

One for one he called them back to their Poké Balls, until it was just Boris and the Jynx with him.

“Thanks again for your help,” Andy said to the Jynx.

“Jynx, Jynx,” the first one replied, nodding her head and the others started waving goodbye.

Andy turned around and walked with Boris through the white landscape. Now the blizzard was gone it was a walk he could enjoy and even though it had been a difficult journey so far, he wouldn’t have it any other way. Not with all he had seen now.

“Only few people were lucky enough to see Articuno,” Boris said. “And even fewer were lucky enough to see him from so close. You can feel blessed for that experience.”

“Trust me, I feel blessed.” A grin appeared on Andy’s face. He couldn’t wait to tell Henry he had actually seen Articuno.

 Andy spend the night at Boris’ place and they exchanged stories next to the burning stove and while eating some bacon, eggs and bread, accompanied with warm tea. The next day, Boris walked with Andy, leading him through the pass and down to the first village. There they said their goodbye’s and each went their own way again, Andy continued the road towards Kanto and Boris walked back up the mountain.


	22. Meet the brother

On a sunny autumn morning Andy stood on the pavement, between two of trees that had been planted neatly in row over the length of the sidewalk. The leaves on the trees were red, yellow and green. A gust of wind ripped a couple of leaves from the trees and gently lay them on the ground. Across the street was a large building with a driveway that gave access to it. Small groups of people walked to and from the building, an occasional Pokémon was accompanying someone or being carried by someone. After Andy had made it over the mountain he had travelled to the city he now was. He could still see the mountain with the white top where he had come face to face with Articuno behind the large building across the street.

 A brown haired young man left one of the small groups that came from the tall building and raised his hand to him. A gesture Andy returned with a grin.

“Hey Andy, it’s good to see you!”

“I know, that’s why I always look in the mirror first thing in the morning,” Andy replied with a grin. He gave his brother a pat on the back. “It’s good to see you, bro.”

Matt, the brother of Andy, chuckled and gave his younger brother a pat on the back as well. “I wouldn’t know, I don’t spent too much time in front of a mirror.”

“You should, we share the dazzling good looks we inherited most likely from our mother.”

Matt was three years older then Andy and was a student at the university across the street, studying archaeology. Where Andy had blond hair, he had brown hair and even though Andy was younger, he was a bit taller then his brother.

“I see you’ve let your hair grow,” Matt noted, looking at Andy’s hair. He himself had his hair cut short.

“I’m just too lazy to get my hair cut,” Andy chuckled as he felt on his hair. “I think I’ll keep it like this, I kinda like it.”

“It looks good on you. Father won’t approve though.”

 “Who cares? So, tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Together the two brothers started to walk away, Matt took his younger brother to a bar not too far from the university for a drink. Matt had left Rhando island just after Andy had found Benny in the forest. Just like Andy, Matt had his own Pokémon and he had travelled around, before he choose to study for a profession at the university. Andy told is brother about the travel so far, about the Pokémon he had added to his team, the people he had met, the adventures he had gotten himself into.

“Articuno, for real?” Matt asked at the end and Andy nodded. “Wow, that’s big. I haven’t seen a legendary Pokémon yet.”

“You will, I’m sure of that. How’s your study going?”

The brothers talked on and on, they had to catch up after all. They always had been close, even though they were greatly different. Not just by looks, but Matt was a whole lot more serious then Andy was, which in that light meant that was mildly serious in comparison with most of the others students. Still, he was one of the few who could put up with Andy’s way of exaggerating, boasting and joking around. After their talk in the bar, they moved to the park where they called their Pokémon. They wanted to show each other what they had caught over time and they the Pokémon would get to know each other.

“You remember my brother, right Benny?” Andy asked and the Butterfree nodded. Benny flew over to Matt, lowered himself so he could hang on his shoulders and gave a cheerful greeting. After that Matt was introduced to the playful Bear, the shy Kim and the serious Merlin.

Matt then introduced his Pokémon to Andy. One of the Pokémon, a Houndoom, walked up to Andy to greet him. Andy hadn’t seen him since he was still a Houndour. He remembered that just like him, his brother hadn’t picked up his first Pokémon at the lab. The Houndour had been a gift from Thomas, the old man who lived in the forest just outside Mesperit city on Rhando Island. The other Pokémon that stood in the grass were a Charmander, a Pachirisu, a Larvitar, an Aggron and a Golduck.

Both Andy and Matt sat down and Matt asked how Henry was doing. Andy had to say he didn’t know, they hadn’t been in contact ever since they went their separate ways in Vermillion City, but that they would meet up in Rhando Island to share their adventures and plan their next travel soon enough. Then a moment of silence fell between them, a comfortable silence, as they watched their Pokémon talk to each other.

At one point Benny started laughing and Merlin rolled his eyes. After Benny told the other Pokémon something, while pretending to throw something and pointing at a tree, and while Merlin shook his head for a second time, the other Pokémon laughed as well. Except for Kim, she didn’t seem comfortable laughing about the story. And Merlin just sighed.

“I wonder what they’re talking about,” Matt said with a smile.

“Oh, I know what story Benny is telling,” Andy replied with a grin and he showed his brother his cracked Poké Ball. He told his brother what had happened when he had tried to catch Merlin and it made his brother laugh as well.

 They could hear a female voice say ‘Honey!’ and Matt waved at the approaching young woman with a smile.

“Honey?” Andy repeated with a grin.

“I might have forgot to mention I have a girlfriend now,” Matt stated with a similar grin.

“You might have.” Andy looked at his brother’s girlfriend, she certainly was pretty and well-dressed.

Matt stood up and greeted his girlfriend with a kiss. “Vivian, this is my younger brother Andy.”

“Hello Andy,” Vivian said as she extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Andy got also up and shook her hand. “I’m sure it is, I am the most awesome Pokémon trainer of the known regions after all.”

Vivian frowned at Andy and Matt rolled his eyes.

“How many Leagues have you won?” Vivian asked.

“None.”

“Badges?”

“Three.”

Vivian looked quite sceptical. “And you call yourself an awesome Pokémon trainer?”

“Certainly!” Andy said, not at all hindered by the sceptical look he received. “I have a bunch of awesome Pokémon after all.” He gestured to the group of Pokémon.

Vivian looked at them for a bit before she turned back to Andy.

“Just four?”

“You counted that correctly.”

“Which one was your starter?”

“The Butterfree.”

“And you call yourself an awesome trainer?” she repeated her earlier question.

Andy showed a smile. “I think I already answered that question, but yeah, I am an awesome trainer. If you don’t believe me, ask my Pokémon!”

While Bear immediately started nodding and explaining with hand and feet how awesome Andy was, and while he was at it explaining how awesome he was at all, a derogatory sound came from Merlin.

“Oh, come on Merlin!” Andy said to his Noctowl. “You know I am awesome.”

The Noctowl just looked silently at Andy.

“Fine,” Andy sighed. “Don’t admit it, but know you’re doing some serious damage on my ego here.”

Benny flew towards Andy and gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder, although there was a happy look in his eyes.

“Thanks Benny,” Andy said with a grin. “I’m feeling better already.”

Matt had watched how Andy and his Pokémon had interacted with a smile and he chuckled now. “I see you get along just fine with your Pokémon.”

“They’re the best,” Andy agreed. “Even Mister Serious over there.”

Merlin sighed, knowing very well Andy was referring to him.

 That evening Andy had dinner with Matt and his girlfriend and when Vivian told Andy she had received her starter, a Bulbasaur back then but a Venasaur by now, from professor Oak. To which Andy replied he had met the professor in New Bark Town back in the Johto region. And as he told about that, he thought that it might be a good idea to go to the professor. He had a close encounter with a legendary Pokémon after all, which was pretty rare. The professor might like to hear about it. So, the decision was easily made, he’d travel to Pallet Town the next day.

 Andy stayed in Pallet Town for a while and met with professor Oak. He spent some time at the lab and helped out as he talked with the professor. It became apparent professor Oak enjoyed sharing his knowledge and Andy learned a lot from him. After a while, Andy travelled back to Saffron to challenge Sabrina again. Just like last time he used his Butterfree and she used her Kadabra. The only difference was that this time Andy won the battle. He praised his Butterfree for his skills and thanked Sabrina for the fantastic battle. 

 In the end Andy travelled the Kanto and Johto region until he felt he had seen everything he wanted to see and it was time to go home.


	23. Back in Mesperit City

After a calm journey by boat, Andy set foot in the docks of Mesperit City. He took in a deep breath and looked around. Home. He was finally home again. He had hoped he would have met Henry on the ship, but that had not been the case. His new hope was that Henry was already at the restaurant where they had reserved a table when they had started their adventure in Vermillion City, two years ago. And what a two years it had been.

Andy started making his way through the town, enjoying all the familiar buildings. Now that he was back he had to admit he had missed the place and he was glad to be back. He raised his backpack a bit higher as he passed a Pokémon Center. That was something of all the regions and with the journey behind him he had even more appreciation of the services they provided for trainers and their Pokémon. He made his way to the restaurant where he was supposed to meet his friend. Again he hoped Henry would have made it for their agreement. Today was the day after all.

One glance at the restaurant learned Andy that it hadn’t changed a bit. With the same big, white letters on the window it told anyone who walked there that the name of the restaurant was ‘Danny’s Diner’. Unbelievably original, but the food was good. Andy entered the restaurant and a small bell just above the door informed Danny a customer had arrived. It didn’t take him long to welcome the guest.

“Welcome to Danny’s Diner, I’m...oh it’s, Andy!”

“No, no,” Andy corrected him. “Andy is my name, your name is Danny.”

“What?” Danny looked at him with an expression that gave away he didn’t understand why Andy said that. “Of course my name is Danny, why did you...” It took him a few seconds to realize why Andy had said that and sighed, much to the amusement of Andy.

“I made a reservation,” Andy said with a grin. “If you remember.”

“I do. In the corner is your table, I’ll be taking your order shortly.”

“Much appreciated!” Andy walked through the restaurant and when he eyes caught the table a broad grin appeared. “Well, well, well, if that isn’t mister Tenson.”

Henry got up from the chair where he had been sitting with an equally big grin. “Mister Bansing, how nice of you to join me.”

They walked up to each other to shake hands. “Damn Andy, it’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise Henry. I’ve got so many things to tell you.”

“Me too.”

They both sat down at the table and looked at each other. So many things had happened that they just didn’t know where to begin. Then Henry asked if Andy had caught any good Pokémon during his travel and with that their conversation started. During the conversation Danny brought them their ordered drinks and meals.

It turned out that Henry had caught a whole lot more Pokémon than Andy had and since a trainer was only allowed to carry six Pokémon with him, the others were at the lab of professor Maple. Henry had been in Lilan Town the previous day to greet all his Pokémon. Then Henry told him about the gym battles he had done and the Kanto and Johto leagues he had joined. Andy then told Henry about the couple of gym leaders he had challenged and all the other things he had done. His two weeks at the day-care, his travel to Mt. Moon, the fighting dojo where he had trained his Mankey, the encounter with Team Rocket, his trip to Kurt and the Slowpoke Well in Azalea town. His stay with professor Oak. And that he had seen Articuno.

“You’ve seen Articuno?” Henry repeated. “That’s great.”

“Oh yes, I’ve even caught him! On camera.”

Henry chuckled. “A catch is a catch, well done Andy.” He raised his glass to him. “Do you feel like a Pokémon Master now?”

“Not really, the more I travelled, the more I realized there is a whole lot to learn out there.”

“That’s true. Now show me the pictures.”

“Certainly.” Andy took his backpack with him and searched in it until he found the album where he had put the pictures in. He showed them one at the time at his friend.

“So this is the mountain, before I chose to climb it. This is the area before the blizzard. That was really cold I might add. And here is a picture of Articuno flying in the air.”

“Amazing,” Henry said.

“Yes,” Andy said as he turned to page to show a picture of Articuno up close, taken just outside the Jinx cave.

Henry blinked twice when he saw that picture. “Exactly how close did you get to Articuno?”

“About five feet? I don’t know.”

Henry punched Andy’s arm. “Give me the details, man.”

And Andy did, he told Henry everything about his travel over the mountain, on his way to meet his brother. About the first blizzard, the fact he saw Articuno flying in the sky, the second blizzard, the cave with the Jinx, Boris and then Articuno outside the Jinx cave.

“What an adventure,” Henry said when Andy was done. “And after that you went to visit Matt. How was he?”

“He’s doing great and he has gathered a nice team of Pokémon.”

“Speaking of which, I’d like to meet yours.”

“Likewise.”

The paid for their meals and left the restaurant. Together they walked back to the harbour, where there would be plenty of room to call all their Pokémon. The first two they let out of their Poké Balls were Andy’s Butterfree and Henry’s Nidorino. The two Pokémon greeted each other enthusiastically and began chatting with each other. It had been a while since they last saw each other after all. Then Andy and Henry introduced the rest of their teams. Henry now had a Sandslash, a Marowak, a Diglett, a Donphan and a Heracross in his team.

“Is your Poochyena with Maple?” Andy asked and Henry nodded to show he was correct.

“Although he’s a Mightyena now. I’ve used him in both leagues, but he broke his leg when trying to protect me when there was a rockslide, so I’ve sent him to Maple to recover. He seems to be fine again, so I’ll leave Donphan in her care and take him on my next travel again.”

“Speaking of which, what’s your next plan?”

“There are still regions I haven’t been to,” Henry shrugged as he spoke. “As for planning, I want to go there and try my best at those leagues.”

“How about we go together?” Andy asked and a smile appeared on Henry’s face.

“Great idea. I’m sure that with you around the journey can’t be dull.”

They shook hands, agreeing to stay on Rhando island for a couple of weeks and then go and visit the regions they hadn’t been to.


	24. Settling down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is more like a summery than an actual adventure like I did with chapter 12 - the travel so far.  
> I grew up with the Kanto and Johto region, but I’m not too familiar with any of the regions after that, so it’s not as easy to write about them. Also, even though I know Henry and Andy travelled the remaining regions together, I have no idea as to what to make them do and see while they are there. For that reason I’m taking the easy way out and summarize for you what major events happened there, which isn’t a whole lot unfortunately.  
> And after that I'll wrap things up, this is the final chapter of this fanfic and I want to mention some things both Andy and Henri will do when they return home, because that will return in other fanfictions too.

The next regions Henry and Andy travelled to were the Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova.

Even though Henry caught several more Pokémon, Andy didn’t catch any. There were opportunities enough, but none of the Pokémon he encountered were interesting enough to be added to his team. He did enjoy to see all the Pokémon in the regions and made plenty of notes about the things he learned about them. They competed in the Hoenn league together. For this event Andy borrowed some Pokémon from Henry to have a full party. Neither won the league, but Andy did get in the top ten and Henry battled his way to 4th place. After that Andy didn’t compete in official Pokémon league, but he did cheer his friend on.

 There were plenty adventures, but those will be told some other time.

 After the two friends had seen the Unova Region they longed to go back to their homes on Rhando island and so they did. At first they didn’t know what to do, but one day Henry talked to a few other trainers from Rhando Island. Like Henry and Andy, these three trainers had travelled the other regions and like Henry they had challenged the local gym leaders to participate in the local Pokémon Leagues. It soon became clear Henry and the other three trainers shared a dream. They wanted to have their own gym and there were no gyms in the area where they lived.

After weeks of planning, discussing and sending formal letters to the Pokémon League officials, they would create their own gyms and their own League. They wanted to call it the Rorie-League, named after the five Rorie islands. Henry would build his gym n Rhando island, in Mesperit City and he would have a ground gym. The gym on Ornitan would be a water type gym and would be owned by Alana Landrieu. On the volcanic island Resto a fire type gym would be lead by Liah McLean. Blake Johnson would own a flying type gym on Indelgy. The League would be held on the final island Evoru and as a catch a trainer could only use the types that belonged to the four gyms of the Rorie islands during the league.

As Henry was busy building his gym in Mesperit city, the other three trainers were building theirs. At the same time the stadium was being build on the final island, with funding of the islands government and the Pokémon League organisation. The entire project was overseen by the president of the Pokémon League Mr. Charles Goodshow.

This would put the Rorie islands on the map for trainers and Henry was excited about that.

Once the gyms were build the Pokémon League officials tested the skills of Henry and the other three to see if they were fit to be gym leaders and they were.

 Meanwhile had Andy settled in Lilan Town, where he walked up the professor Maple and told her he had acquired vast amounts of knowledge on the Pokémon world and that he would be happy to share that knowledge, if she would hire him to work in her research facility, a lab that was part of the Oak Research Foundation chain. Hesitantly she offered him a job as assistant to do Pokémon research. Why she did hire him was a mystery to everyone, as all they could see was a trainer who was rather full of himself. Much to everyone’s surprise, Andy proved to be a decent researcher and indeed knowledgeable about Pokémon. He had after all observed a lot during his travels, as well as spoken with several experts on different fields. It wasn’t long before he was allowed his own office and to do his own research.

 Both Henry and Andy had found their way in life and were doing the things they liked doing. Since the opening of the gyms and the Rorie League, trainers were coming to Rhando Island and Henry could see his dream getting fulfilled.

Andy enjoyed working at the research facility and learning more about Pokémon, but he wanted more in his life. He learned that he loved helping and teaching young trainers, something he noticed when he spent time at the gym of his friend.

When his brother Matt also returned to the island the two were sitting in a bar and an idea popped up. Matt started as a trainer, but he had chosen to become an archaeologist and went to a university instead of travelling the world, he had figured he could travel the world after that. So now he knew what he needed to know about being an archaeologist, but he didn’t have much experience as a trainer. Andy on the other hand had travelled around and had lots of practical experience, as well as strong trainer skills, but he found that he was now catching up on knowledge he could have had if he had gone to college, knowledge that was essential to be a good researcher. Lastly, children could get their first Pokémon at the age of ten and with that become a trainer, but there were plenty of parents who didn’t want their child to wander into the world alone at that age. Andy added that if he would have any children of himself, he wouldn’t let his child run around with a Pokémon and into adventure at that age. He hadn't started to travel until he was fourteen humself.

Together they came up with the idea of a Pokémon Academy where people from the ages ten and up could enrol in. The name they choose for the academy was the Rorie Academy. The Rorie Academy would be a set of buildings to offer several services. There would be a school in which a new trainer could learn the basics of being a Pokémon trainer, like learning about training, taking care of and battling with their Pokémon, as well as taking care of themselves on the road. Besides that they would learn what any child would learn at school, so that when they completed the course they could get into college later on if they so wished. That was one aspect of the Academy, the other was that already accomplished trainers could take courses the Academy offered and graduate as teacher, scientist, geologist, archaeologist, nurse or doctor, and at the same time work on their trainer skills. Not just trainers were welcome at the academy, people aiming to be breeders, coordinators and rangers were just as welcome, but also people who didn’t want to work with Pokémon, but who wanted to get a degree in one of the courses that were being offered. For anyone that aimed to be a trainer, breeder, coordinator or ranger the only requirement was that they were at least ten years old and had at least one Pokémon, as the academy would not provide that. The academy would work together with the research facility of professor Maple, who could offer new trainers their starter Pokémon.

 It took a few years for the academy to be build, but eventually it was build, close to the research facility in Lilan Town. Andy continued working as researcher in the research facility, but took part-time job as teacher as well and he earned the title professor.


End file.
